


Exception

by Aviantei



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Also way too many pairings, Alternate Universe - High School, Love Triangles, Multi, ocxcanon, way too many OCs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2020-06-07 17:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 101,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19474285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviantei/pseuds/Aviantei
Summary: High School AU. With one careless decision, everything changes. Kanda gets a girlfriend. Allen gets a harem. Lavi has a crisis. Lenalee has a rebellious phase. At Black Order High and beyond, whatever happens, it's certain that the addition of one new girl into their group a year ago will never let the world be the same again. All because of one little exception. OCs involved.





	1. 1. Hatred for Mondays

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally getting started on crossposting my content from fanfiction.net. This story was my first fic, and the first chapter was posted on December 23, 2008. The first ten or so chapters were rewritten around 2015 or so, and those versions appear here. Much to my chagrin, at the time of posting, this story is not yet complete, but it's slowly getting somewhere.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

1\. Hatred for Mondays

* * *

It was a Monday morning. Kanda Yu _hated_ Monday mornings. He hated most days of the week, but there was something about a Monday that was particularly infuriating. He wished for nothing more than all Mondays to go to hell, burn, be reformed from the ashes, frozen, melted, and refurbished through an infinite amount of torture, and the mornings could go first.

As is required for most teenagers on a Monday morning, Kanda—just try calling him by his first name, I dare you—was heading to school. While he didn’t particularly care for school, especially when it was a Monday, he at least accepted the fact that he needed to go through just one more year of the shit before he could move on to the rest of his life. As such, he was capable of summoning the energy required to get up at ungodly hours and arrive to school early, as opposed to the much more rational on time or late.

Knowing he would be herded there anyway by the teachers, Kanda made his way towards the cafeteria. While he would have much rather just gone to his locker and his first class _before_ he was under the pressure of a bell timing his arrival and he could have a few moments of peace and quiet, there just so happened to be _rules_ against that sort of thing. The lobby was a breeding ground for people just waiting to have their faces punched in, so the cafeteria it was.

“Good morning, Kanda-san,” a voice called out, causing Kanda to turn his head. Leaning against the wall next to the cafeteria entrance was a girl with short brown hair and matching eyes, Minomasu Ivy. She waved once Kanda saw her, and the Japanese teen continued heading in her direction.

“Hey, Ivy,” Kanda replied.

If anyone else had told Kanda “good morning” on a Monday—or quite possibly any other day of the week, though he would seriously have to question what someone would be doing in his house on a goddamn weekend and _then_ it would be a lot worse—he would want to know one of two things. One: What was this theoretical person on? Or two: What the hell could possibly be so fucking good about it? As neither of these questions were asked and the pair had entered the cafeteria, we can come to some conclusions, one being that Kanda doesn’t completely hate everything.

The cafeteria was a hubbub of sound, though nowhere as noisy as it would be later in the day or the lobby outside. That was one of the few reasons why Kanda could actually stand coming in here, even if it did have its downsides as well. He and Ivy went to head towards the line before they were intercepted.

Now for something Kanda does hate.

“Yu-pon!” a voice exclaimed, loud enough to rival the bleachers of the winning school at a football game, plus the cheerleaders. This time Kanda didn’t even vocalize a response, though his thoughts were easily summed up as _Stupid rabbit._ Lavi Bookman was one of their classmates, rivaling Kanda in the height department, especially when you added in the advantage his hair have when it was held up by the bandana tied around his forehead. Other notable accessories included an eye patch over his right eye and a scarf around his neck, even though it wasn’t quite the time of the year for it to be necessary. “And the lovely Ivy-chan as well! How are you this fine morning?”

“Good morning, Lavi,” Ivy greeted, not even hesitating. Somehow she was able to manage the task of being pleasant to the redhead without even having to think about it first. It was the same amount of politeness that she gave to other people, and it bothered Kanda more often than not. This interaction was enough for Kanda’s thoughts to elevate a level.

_Stupid,_ stupid _rabbit._ There, that emphasis sure was satisfying.

“You came here with Kanda, I see?” If he ever gives you any trouble at all, let me know. Lavi-nii will—oof!” Lavi’s words were cut off as Kanda’s fist made a first class connection with his stomach. It was a beautifully executed shot, although Kanda couldn’t full appreciate it as he was too busy being disturbed by the thought of Lavi being a big brother figure to someone almost the same age. He pulled his fist back, and, lacking support, Lavi sank to the floor, squeaking out, “Nice… shot…”

“Just shut up,” Kanda growled. It was way too early in the morning for this bullshit. Not that it was ever the right time to deal with Lavi’s bullshit, but there are some limits you just don’t even try to cross.

“Was that really necessary, Kanda-san?” Ivy asked. Lavi was still on the floor, clutching his stomach and writhing. Ivy seemed legitimately concerned. Kanda was unaffected; he gain a sick sort of pleasure from watching the redhead be in pain, and this exact scene had been a staple in their lives ever since Lavi had tried to give the class hamster a new home in Kanda’s backpack in middle school.

“You’re too nice to him, Ivy. He would have ranted for at least two more paragraphs if you hadn’t told him to shut up,” Kanda explained. If there was one thing he had to give to Lavi, it was that he never knew when to shut up. It was even more impressive that he managed to come up with something new every time he opened his mouth. Kanda had never heard the redhead say the same exact thing more than once, though that might have been because somewhere along the line he was bound to tune him out.

“That’s probably true…”

“So, anyway!” Lavi exclaimed, popping up from the ground as if nothing had happened. He accomplished the action in one swift jump. His ability to absorb violence and recover was probably from whatever cartoon hell he had escaped from. “Come! Join us at our lovely breakfast table!” he declared, putting his arms around both Ivy and Kanda’s shoulders, leading them towards a table.

“Get the hell off me!” Kanda shouted.

“Um, Lavi, shouldn’t we get breakfast?” Ivy asked at the same time.

Both were valid concerns. Lavi decided to turn to Kanda first. “Tsk, tsk, Yu-pon. Such rudeness! I’m surprised Ivy-chan puts up with it!” he exclaimed. Ivy didn’t seem to have a clue of what he was talking about.

“Why you…” Kanda had a million things to say to the damn rabbit right now, but said rabbit was already talking to Ivy. It was only a rational move, considering talking to Kanda would only result in more pain for Lavi. Kanda hate the fact that the redhead was actually smart when he applied himself.

“Sorry, I almost forgot. You guys _should_ get some food. I’ll see you two in a bit!” And in a flash Lavi was gone, his scarf trailing behind him. The last thing Kanda wanted to do was sit with the rabbit, but it was habit by now. Ivy was going to end up sitting at the same table anyway. Even so, Kanda exhaled in relief. At least Ivy could somehow control Lavi to make him standable to some microscopic degree.

“Well, at least he wakes you up,” Ivy said, still smiling. That being said, one could compare Lavi to a life-sized alarm clock gone wrong. Somewhere it had malfunctioned, causing it to go off at every hour, minute, and second, never stopping. In effect, you could never sleep if you were close to it.

“Stupid rabbit,” Kanda said. Nuff said.

“I think he’s funny.” Ivy headed towards the line, and Kanda followed. Thankfully the line was short during breakfast hours, eliminating any causalities that could occur from Kanda’s strict no bullshit policy. Inversely, it meant that all his frustration at Lavi was still pent up.

“How the fuck is _that_ funny?” Ivy grabbed a tray and picked up a bottle of milk before heading through the rest of the line. Kanda did the same. He missed his soba already. “He’s annoying as hell.”

“Oh, hush. You’re just irritated ‘cause it’s a Monday.” Ivy punched in her number at the register. Standing behind the counter, the best chef to ever work for any school, _ever_ , Jerry, nodded in agreement. Kanda tossed food onto his plate without really paying attention, and punched in his number as well. Maybe Ivy was right, and he wasn’t as pissed off at Lavi as he thought.

“Yuuuuuuuuuu-poooooooooooooooon!”

Scratch that, he was. How could he ever think otherwise? Yu Kanda being pissed off at Lavi Bookman was a constant in the universe, like gravity, the speed of light, and the fact that the Earth revolved around the sun, not the other fucking way around. There couldn’t be any other alternative, not even if the universe exploded or imploded or whatever goddamn theory the scientists were arguing these days.

_I swear, one day, I’ll kill this stupid rabbit. They’ll never be able to prove it in a court of law._

Lavi was being overzealous and waving the duo over to their usual table at such a rate that Kanda was convinced the rabbit’s arm would fall off. Hopefully that would be the case. The loss of the limb had to have enough of an effect to diminish his ability to annoy others. Ivy and Kanda both sat down at the table. Besides Lavi, two others were already there: Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee.

Allen was a short for a boy, although that was nowhere near the most interesting thing about him. His hair was shoulder length and snow white in color, while a pale red scar ran over his left eye (his left, not yours). His left arm was also a dark red color, which he strategically covered up with long sleeves and gloves, even if it wasn’t the season. No one really believed the story he told about them being there from birth, either because it was too perfect or teenagers are just nibshits and that’s not _exciting_ enough for them, but something about the way he told the story with his perfect British accent made you want to.

If Allen was small, Lenalee was tiny, both in terms of height and figure. Her dark hair was more often than not tied up in pigtails, like this very moment, but it wasn’t a staple. Having the same hairstyle every day is bad for both your hair and fashion status, and a girl had to have her priorities straight after all. For anyone in the know—and why aren’t you, honestly—her clothes were designer, gifts from her overly doting brother. Despite all this, she was still nice, able to master the art of being popular without being a total bitch about it.

Now that the group was properly assembled, Lavi knew this was his time. Taking care not to end up in anyone’s breakfast, he leaned across the table. “Guess what?” he asked. His voice had shot up an octave, and despite the fact that he had only said two words, the entire sentence was brimming with excitement.

Kanda swallowed his mouthful of what was supposed to be eggs and miraculously succeeded and sighed. “What are you, some gossiping school girl?” he said. Lavi chose to ignore the insult, or maybe he just didn’t hear it. Kanda was opting for the latter. Regardless, Lenalee didn’t miss a beat, tossing a glare across the table. Kanda tried to look innocent while taking another bite of his breakfast. The last time he had ended up on the Chinese girl’s bad side it had ended in a forceful clipboard to the head, an experience he wasn’t dying to try out again.

“Well, there’s a couple who’s really into each other, but they won’t admit it,” Lavi said, treating the words like they were the cure to cancer. Allen instantly zoned out, but kept a polite face that made it look like he was paying attention.

Lenalee dabbed her mouth with a napkin before speaking. “Lavi, this is high school. There are millions of relationships like that,” she pointed out. While she was trying to be the voice of reason, you could still tell she was interested. Keeping up with these things was, like, a duty or something.

“But I think we could actually _do_ something for these two!” Lavi whined, moving so he was facing Lenalee head on. “Come on, Lenalady, you can’t be so cruel as to sit there and do nothing about such a tragedy!” Kanda watched the groveling, disgusted. Leave it to the rabbit to try and start something like this. Didn’t he realize that everyone else had better things to do with their time?

And that’s when Lavi looked at Kanda out of the corner of his one eye and somehow managed to wink with it.

Suddenly everything clicked, which was enough for Kanda to be done. He pushed his plate away from him with enough force that it slid into Lavi’s side, and almost knocked his chair over leaning back, a heavy sigh escaping from his lips.

_Stupid, gossiping, nosy rabbit!_

“Kanda-san, are you alright?” Ivy asked, concerned. She obviously had missed out or she wouldn’t be so calm. Or maybe she would be; he could never tell with her. Saying he was alright was a lie she would see right through, so he settled for the next best thing.

“Not hungry…” he grumbled.

Allen’s eyes lit up again, completely bypassing the redhead still leaning across the table in front of him, locking on Kanda’s discarded breakfast. “Well, Kanda, if you’re not going to eat that, can I have it?” he asked. “Don’t want to let good food go to waste.” The scary part was that you couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Kanda grunted, which Allen took as a yes. The plate was snatched up in a second, and the food gone just as quickly.

Kanda’s morning hadn’t gone well. He had to spend the rest of the day in hell with the stupid rabbit, so that didn’t look good. Lavi’s idiot plans had a way of dragging you into them even if you didn’t want to and would go on for unplanned amounts of time, so they were in for a doozy there. And to top it all off, it was still Monday.


	2. 2. More Pissed Off Than Usual

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

2\. More Pissed Off Than Usual

* * *

Now that we’ve covered Kanda’s likes and dislikes (or something akin to that matter), let us move onto a new but equally relevant topic: his daily life. Wake up, school, home, homework, bed. The occasional detour into swapping home and homework, which was a paradox as it was, as well as some form of trip every now and then as one of the group otherwise known as his friends had something planned. Wash, rinse, repeat.

It was a simple schedule, but that was really all Kanda needed. After all, it was the only concretely simple thing in Kanda’s otherwise complicated life. Even when things got fucked up—cough, cough, choke, choke, Lavi—it was something to fall back onto. When one day went to hell, he could always pick things up and try again the next morning.

Sadly, things went to hell far more often than Kanda would have liked. He tried to ignore this fact and just carried on as always, which sometimes involved strangling a certain rabbit.

As we were.

Before things could get too overly complicated at the breakfast table, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the school day. Kanda took the chance to bolt for his locker, one of the few places of solace they had. Since things were assigned due to alphabetical order, Lavi _Bookman_ was nowhere near _Kanda_ Yu’s locker.

Now if he just avoided breakfast he could actually have the majority of his mornings without the stupid rabbit, at least until he got to class, which was obligatory. Trying to ignore his own stupidity, Kanda decided to take some pleasure out of the fact that the students that had the lockers next to him stayed out of the way while he gathered his things for class. There were benefits to certain incidents back in the old days, even if they hadn’t seemed that way at the time.

A few lockers down, within a visible distance, Ivy was organizing her things with perfect precision. Anything that had been inside her backpack was in its place on the top shelf, and she was building up a stack of the items she needed for the first few periods of the day in her arms. Her bag was on a hook, her emergency jacket on the other, and one of those ridiculous hanging things with a mirror and slots for varying school supplies was fully stocked. It was like the perfect locker that teachers hoped their students had but never did.

Ivy was done gathering her things before Kanda even came remotely close to doing the same. She leaned against the opposite wall in wait for him like it was the most natural thing in the world. To think, only a year ago Ivy had been the new girl and one of the science teachers, Lenalee’s crazy older brother, Komui, had forced Kanda into taking Ivy as his lab partner _and_ show her around the school. Even weirder was how easily she had managed to fit into their group’s life.

Personally, Kanda blamed Komui for a lot of what Lavi said. It made things a lot easier in this school, where you could just blame everything on one of them or both. It certainly made Kanda feel better.

The Japanese teen finished gathering his things and started down the hallway. Ivy fell into step beside him, clearly running on autopilot. She was thinking about something. Seeing as this was his last chance to talk to someone besides Lavi for the next couple of periods, Kanda went for it.

“What’s with that face?” he asked.

Ivy seemed flustered that he had even noticed. She paused, fiddling with a pencil tucked into the spirals of one of her notebooks before answering. “I’m just a bit worried is all…” she said, looking at Kanda out of the corner of her eye. “I can’t say for certain, but I really think you seem a little more pissed off than usual.”

Kanda considered his actions earlier, and figured that was probably what it seemed like. Being more pissed off was certainly one way to put it. It was probably going to end in being pissed off anyway. That was how most things went anyway.

“Implying that I’m usually in a state of being pissed off,” he countered, a slight smirk pulling at the edges of his lips. One could even say that it was something like a smile, if something like that was inclined to show up on Kanda Yu’s face.

“Ah, I…” The color darkened on Ivy’s face as she stumbled over her words. “Sorry, I… It’s more like… Oh, you know what I mean!” she protested, causing Kanda to chuckle. Before he could say anything else, they reached the stairwell where their paths split up, Ivy almost heading down the hall with too much enthusiasm. “See you later, Kanda-san! _Please_ try not to kill Lavi. We’ve barely made it into the school year.”

Kanda grunted.

She raced off down the hall before Kanda could reply, and the Japanese boy resigned himself to heading up the stairs. This was all the more reason for him to hate Mondays. A perfectly good weekend ruined by an entire day with the stupid rabbit.

Kanda should have learned a long time ago not to fill out his class schedule in pencil, have it sitting around for more than twenty-four hours, or leave it unguarded in a notebook anywhere remotely near Lavi, but he had done it all anyway. Such actions of stupidity had allowed for Lavi to tamper with his schedule. The result had been that Kanda Yu and Lavi Bookman were to not-so-coincidentally spend every period of their senior year together in the same classes. Kanda felt as if he should horrendously injure himself as penance for his sins, if killing Lavi wouldn’t make up for the whole fiasco so much better than any act of self-harm ever could.

“Come on, Yu-pon! We need to get to class!”

Speak of the devil and he will appear. Why such a rule also applied to Lavi, Kanda had no idea. The redhead latched onto his “friend’s” arm, almost spilling the books from Kanda’s arms and the two teens faceplanting onto the stairs. Kanda did his best to shake the rabbit away, but was unsuccessful.

This was surely hell.

“Get off me,” he growled.

Lavi only shook his head. “Your little chatting session went on longer than usual, Yu-pon, so we can’t risk being late,” he said, pulling Kanda up the stairs. As they turned, Kanda could see Allen heading down the opposite hallway. He could have sworn the beansprout was laughing and resolved to punch the British boy in the face in the highly foreseeable future. “Let’s move, our education awaits!”

It really was such a shame that the books and Lavi’s influence prevented Kanda from being able to strangle the rabbit. He settled for shouting curses as he was dragged down the hall, and if he went to detention for it, Lavi was sure as hell coming with him.

More pissed off than usual indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to louise_campbell for the kudos!


	3. 3. SSGTIK: The Plotting of Lavi, Lenalee, and Sort of Allen

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

3\. SSGTIK: The Plotting of Lavi, Lenalee, and Sort of Allen

* * *

Somehow, the school day had passed without Lavi dying or obtaining several external injuries. Whether or not he had gained some internal problems from Kanda nearly tossing him down the stairs and the Japanese male almost running over the redhead with his car—“Rabbits that get in the street are meant to be road kill.”—was a question best left to an MRI or other procedures o the sort, but Lavi wasn’t too worried about it. As long as he wasn’t coughing up blood, he was fine.

These were the sort of things you had to deal with when you were Kanda Yu’s best friend after all. Lavi viewed it as a privilege.

Besides, he had better things to be doing. A few well-placed origami swans containing notes in Lenalee and Allen’s lockers had done the trick, even if Allen was difficult and had to be the _only_ one in the world who _actually_ locked the damn thing. Lavi had still managed to get his masterpiece into the Brit’s locker in perfect condition. It was magic.

Or it was just stalking his friend and tossing the poor swan in at just the right moment without being noticed. But he got it on the first try, though! That took some serious ninja skills!

Regardless of the fact, the trio had now gathered in Lavi’s garage. It was only a garage in name, and Lavi had long transformed it into a good place to hang out since any other rational place, like say, oh, the living room, was filled with books. Most of the time his car stayed outside—it was a piece of junk anyway, though Lavi loved it all the same—but everything could be easily rearranged in the event that the weather outside was less than favorable.

Allen was standing, wary of even sitting down on the couch. He had done that before, when he was first starting to get to know Lavi. The horrors shall not be repeated. The fact that Allen and his budding friendship survived only shows a testimony to its strength.

Lenalee, however, was sitting on the thing. She didn’t even look wary of the situation. She was fearless. Or maybe the couch just liked girls better than it like white-haired British kids? Maybe it was afraid of its fate if it did anything to Komui’s sister? The world may never know.

“Okay, let’s get down to business!” Lavi declared. He had taken a seat on one of the many mismatched lawn chairs scattered about the garage. They were a bit safer than the couch, although Allen still worried that one would collapse if he dared to sit in it. Lavi took a deep breath and beamed. “Welcome to the first official meeting of the SSGTIK!”

“ _The SSGTIK?_ ” Allen and Lenalee asked in unison. They even blinked at the same time. With coordination like that, they totally should have gotten into competitive synchronized swimming. They could have taken home the gold. The possibilities were endless.

Leaving behind any ideas of his friends’ potential future Olympic athlete careers behind for the moment, Lavi sighed. He even made it extra big, for dramatic effect. “SSGTIK stands for Secret Society for the Get Together of Ivy and Kanda,” he explained proudly. It had taken him three whole periods of inner debating to come up with the right name. A close second was _Operation Yu-pon Seriously Needs a Date_ was a close favorite, but OYSND didn’t have the same ring to it.

Cue the staring. Even if only Lavi could make up something like this, it still took a moment to process that Lavi _had_ come up with this.

“Oh, Lavi, is that was this is all about?” Lenalee asked. She sounded more like an understanding mother than anything else. When it came down to it, she was in agreement with what Lavi’s end goal was, even if the methodology seemed a bit…much.

Allen, on the other hand, wasn’t as willing to jump on the band wagon. “Why do _I_ need to be a part of this?” he asked, crossing his arms. “No offense, Lavi, but I don’t understand why you think I would want to help. Kanda and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms.”

Lavi simply chose to throw that bit of log aside, standing up and swinging an arm around Allen’s shoulders. “Come on, Brit, it’ll be fun!”

“Lavi, you said archery would be fun. I nearly died!”

Lavi didn’t see what the problem was. He had had tons of fun. He even got to try the thing where you put an apple on someone else’s head and shot an arrow through it! He hadn’t been the best shot to start out with, but he still hit the target in the end, and that was all that mattered.

“Pshaw, that was a sport. This… This is real life!” the redhead reasoned. “Besides, if you’re not going to do this for Yu-pon, do it for Ivy-chan! She really likes Yu-pon and could use help getting through to him.” Allen almost gagged. Ivy was a nice person, but what did she even see in an idiot like Kanda? He wanted to protest, but Lavi continued, “Now, if we have no other reason to delay, I would like to be president. Any objections?”

Oh, Allen had objections. Several really. Most of them he wouldn’t say because he was too damn polite to do so. The others he kept to himself because Lavi was already on a roll and there was no point in trying to stop him now. Lenalee only smiled from her seat on the couch.

“Good! Now, Lenalee, you’re VP. Brit, you’re secretary.”

“Secretary for what?!” Allen protested. “Oh, no, I’m not doing this. I’m sorry, Lavi, but there’s no way I’m being secretary for this SS-whatever.”

“SSGTIK,” Lavi corrected. “In that case, you can be VP; Lenalee will be secretary.”

Allen should have known better than to say anything. It only got him into even more trouble. What was the point of giving them positions anyway? What were their duties?!

“But—!” Allen attempted.

“Excellent!” Lavi exclaimed, ignoring the British boy’s comment. He wasn’t trying to be rude; he was just so excited by his idea that the idea of someone else having a problem didn’t even register. And Allen was just frustrated since this was all so sudden. He would adjust in time. Smiling so wide his face seemed on the verge of splitting open, Lavi directed a finger in the direction of the only female present. “Lenalee, did you bring that event schedule I asked for?”

Lenalee nodded, reaching into her messenger bag. “Here you go,” she said, holding out the paper. Lavi bounded over to where she was sitting to retrieve his prize.

“I knew I could count on you! You’re definitely the most organized out of us. I dunno why I thought to make Allen secretary, this is way better.” If Allen had an issue with that sentence, he didn’t say anything. In fact, he did have several issues with that, but he didn’t see the point. Lavi was silent for a moment as he scanned the schedule. It didn’t last. “Perfect! The last week of November, there’s the annual festival. Why don’t we put our plan into action then?”

Lenalee nodded, still smiling. Allen let out something akin to a grumble, finally resigned.

“In which case, this meeting of the SSGTIK is now over. The next one will be at Brit’s house, one week from today,” Lavi decided on the spot. They couldn’t hang out in his garage forever. Besides, changing up locations made it seem like such an important mission, which it totally was.

“ _Hey!_ ” Allen shouted. So much for resignation. He’d probably lose his voice if he kept things up at this rate.

“Until then, dismissed!”

Lenalee stood up to leave, brushing off her skirt. She would need to head home soon or else Komui would worry and send out a search party again. Such a thing was not beyond him. “Hey, Allen, you wanna walk home together then…? Allen?”

The British boy had captured Lavi into a headlock. “Don’t just go making decisions like that on the spot,” he said. “If you’re going to be using my home and my time for this silly endeavor, you better bet that I’m going to expect compensation.”

Lavi seemed to be choking. Allen wasn’t too concerned. Half of the sound was for dramatic effect anyway. “I’ll buy your lunch for a week?” he proposed. Allen squeezed harder. “Fine! Fine! I’ll buy your lunch for a month! Plus extra desserts!” The redhead was released and was lucky enough to land in a chair.

Allen had resumed his standard angelic smile. “Sounds great! See you tomorrow, Lavi!”

Lenalee could only sigh. Boys really made no sense at all at times.

* * *

Working on his homework, Kanda felt a shiver go up his spine. He didn’t like this feeling at all. It was the feeling that happened whenever the stupid rabbit was up to something. Even worse, there was usually nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Likewise, Ivy sneezed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the guest for the kudos!


	4. 4. Lavi Starts a Scene

******Exception**

By: Aviantei

4\. Lavi Starts a Scene

* * *

For being the type of person to go through all the trouble to build a ‘secret’ organization and drag them into a meeting, Lavi wasn’t quite ready to let Lenalee and Allen see his full hand just yet. Despite what other people may say—mainly Kanda—Lavi had a backup plan in the event that Lenalee and Allen decided not to help out. Sure, he had faith in his friends, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t come up with emergency measures!

And even though the duo had agreed, Lavi still considered alternates. The logical thing to do would have been to scrap them, as backups were no longer needed, or to even talk with the SSGTIK about how those plans could be revised, Lavi didn’t have the patience for that. His instincts were telling him the time was now, and that time was as good as any.

It was now or never! Or something like that at least.

Give him some credit. He did at least try to contain the urge. _I’ve created a new bond with my friends,_ he thought. _We’ve come together with a common goal and I should respect that. They want to help so I shouldn’t go solo, no matter how tempting the idea is!_

Suffice to say, this inner monologue/pep talk didn’t work out so well.

* * *

Kanda wasn’t sure exactly what he had done to deserve this, but he was certain that this was hell. Maybe it had been that one time he broke Lavi’s arm in middle school gym class (It was an accident. Honest!). Maybe it was all the cursing. Maybe it was the time he had refused to be Lenalee’s friend in elementary school and made her cry, though he thought that having Komui hunt him down the next day and lecture him was penance enough. Regardless, Kanda wished he could take whatever it was _back_.

Because really, it would be worth it just so he didn’t have to wait in the lunch line next to the stupid rabbit. Even worse, the bean sprout was with him, and Ivy was nowhere in sight.

It had been a long enough day as it was, even for a not Monday. Classes were boring, teachers were annoying, and Lavi was a constant presence, never backing down. On top of that, the redhead had been pestering Kanda more than usual, and the repetitiveness was very easily wearing down Kanda’s nerves.

“So, you don’t have any feelings for her?” Lavi asked for what seemed like, and probably was, the millionth time that day. Each time he asked it, Kanda’s headache just got worse. Soon enough, it would be a full-blown migraine.

It should be able to go without saying who the ‘her’ was, because I’m sure you figured out the ‘her’ is Ivy.

“No, you stupid rabbit,” Kanda growled in response for just the equally possible millionth time, the same as every other time Lavi had asked. By now, Kanda’s low enough as it was Lavi tolerance had dropped way below the zero mark. It had to be some miracle that he hadn’t attempted to shove the redhead into the nearest vending machine by now.

Kanda’s harsh denial caused Allen to flinch, which was satisfying, but not enough to soothe Kanda’s nerves. The British boy only stood to the side, not saying anything. Sure, this whole conversation was probably going to lead to trouble, but two years at this school had taught Allen there were very few things more dangerous than getting between Lavi and an almost livid Kanda.

“Are you _suuuure_?” Lavi further prompted. Allen could have smacked his forehead if it wouldn’t have been pointless. Kanda just wanted to slam Lavi’s head into the wall, forget the potential expulsion. At least the bloodstain would make an interesting addition to the school’s history.

Honestly, who the fuck dragged out their vowels that long? Not only was it obnoxious, it was unnecessary.

“Yes, I’m fucking sure.” Kanda just barely restrained his yell, the words gritting out between his teeth. He normally wouldn’t have cared, but getting shoved into detention wasn’t how he wanted to end this day. Especially since that would only make him more pissed and the last time he had been pissed in detention, there had been hospital bills to pay.

Lavi only smiled. “Well, that’s a relief off my back then,” he said, folding his arms behind his head and leaning against the wall. Allen gave him a concerned look, and Lavi winked—or at least as much as you can wink with one visible eye. It really did nothing to soothe the Brit’s nerves, but it didn’t matter. Lavi just needed Allen to watch and see how the SSGTIK got things done.

“What’s a relief?” Kanda asked, confused. Sure, most things Lavi did usually didn’t make sense to Kanda and could maybe catch him off guard, but it wasn’t often that he was _confused_.

Allen couldn’t say what caused it, but his stomach suddenly didn’t feel so good. He was about to spout off some excuse to go to the nurse, but was cut off by Lavi’s next words.

“That you don’t like her,” the redhead continued. It didn’t seem possible, but his smile was only growing wider by the moment. Surely, going to the nurse would be better than this. The woman and Allen didn’t even have the best relationship and it would be better than this.

“Why?” Kanda asked. This imaginary stomach bug was apparently contagious, because Kanda had a bad feeling about this. It had to be powerful stuff, too, considering Kanda couldn’t even remember getting sick once in his life. Even the chicken pox had passed him over.

Besides the foreboding feeling, a part of Kanda was starting to regret saying ‘no.’

“Well…” Lavi drawled. Insert pause for dramatic effect. In those few seconds, Kanda wondered if it would be more effective to try and take out Lavi’s only eye left with a plastic spoon or fork. He was partway through considering just using one of the cafeteria provided knives before Lavi added, “That just means I can ask her out.”

Drop bombshell, wait for aftermath.

“You can _what_?” Allen blurted out, clearly not expecting the reaction. Now all that was left to complete the image of pure shock would be milk spurting out of his nose. Too bad they weren’t anywhere close to that part of the lunch line yet.

“Huh? Don’t tell me you like her, too, Brit,” Lavi said, pouting. Hell, it even seemed like his hair had drooped down from its normally skyward reaching state. He was more dejected than a kicked puppy that got stuck watching other puppies get kicked. It would have been heart wrenching if it weren’t for the company he was in.

“Wh-what? N-no!” Allen stammered. If he wasn’t on the verge of having a heart attack, the objection might have sounded way more convincing and a lot less high pitched. Holding onto his chest, Allen took a breath and put his other hand to the wall to steady himself. What was Lavi thinking? Had the whole SSGTIK thing been a bloody _ruse_? “It’s just… _you_ , Lavi?”

“Yeah,” Kanda added, his jaw still almost locked together. “Don’t you normally prefer older women anyway?” Part of him died admitting that he had paid enough attention to know the rabbit’s taste in women, but he was willing to sacrifice a bit of his pride for the sake of indirectly talking Lavi out of it.

_Stupid fucking rabbit, trying to get me to admit I like her. Well it’s not gonna happen! As if I’d tell you something like that before I told her._

“While that may be true,” Lavi mused, “it’s just… Ivy has this certain charm to her. It can really change a guy’s opinion.” Lavi had to resist the urge to grin. Things were working out even better than he could have thought. If this didn’t make Kanda crack in the long run, Lavi was willing to give up his position as the president of the SSGTIK.

Not that the position was really worth anything.

Kanda let out a loud “ _Che,_ ” then turned his back on Lavi. The redhead only watched as his stubborn best friend trip the guy in front of him before cutting ahead in the line, all for the sake of putting space between himself and the duo. Allen could only stare in shock.

_Fine then, go ahead and ask her out! You always do whatever you want anyways. See if I fucking care!_

As if sensing the state of his stomach, Jerry prepared Kanda a smaller portion of Soba than usual.


	5. 5. Plans in Action

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

5\. Plans in Action

* * *

Ivy had gotten to lunch early. It wasn’t something she necessarily strived to do, but every now and then, Kanda would show up for lunch early as well, and it was nice to have some time alone with him. And even in the event of him not being there, it still gave the opportunity to have some peace and quiet to herself before the others showed up and made a ruckus. However…

“So, Ivy-chan, are you busy on Friday?”

…with Lavi somehow getting to the cafeteria before her, that was impossible. He was even missing a tray, so he hadn’t gotten his lunch yet, abandoning the endeavor in favor of sitting across from Ivy. Something was up.

“Not yet. Why?” Ivy answered, keeping her irritation over losing valuable alone time to herself. It had become painfully obvious that Kanda could never keep his temper around Lavi. After a few months, she had finally decided if Kanda was always going to be on the verge of causing property damage when the redhead was around, she would play it cool to balance the Japanese boy out.

Lavi took the question at the end of her words and jumped for it. Things were working out, just as planned. “Well, you know about the festival this weekend, right?” he asked. There was no need to rush into it.

“Yeah.” _Of course I know._ Everyone at the damn school knew, making big ordeals about dates and plans and the rides. There was enough commotion that Ivy hadn’t even needed to ask any questions about it when it rolled around the year she had first arrived. _Now get to the damn point._ “What about it?”

“Okay, so hear me out. I managed to get some all-access passes for it.” Proving his point, Lavi dug into his jeans’ pocket, producing the items in question. He had this in the bag. Adding on to the drama, Lavi heaved a sigh. “I tried to get Yu-pon to some along, but he said he was busy.”

“He is? With what?” Ivy rushed into the questions, her disappointment slipping through the barrier between her emotions and her voice. It may have been stretching it a bit, but she had hoped to maybe go with Kanda herself if it was at all possible.

Even so, the chance that Kanda had lied to avoid dealing with Lavi was entirely possible. Thus, her second question.

“Homework, what else?” Lavi responded. It was even completely valid. “I tried to get him to go for it, but he wouldn’t budge. Something about wanting to get this essay assignment we got today ‘the fuck out of the way.’” Ivy knew just what kind of person that Kanda was when it came to his homework, because she was the same way. Lavi noticed her frown and tried to supply a cheerful grin. “So, I was wondering if you wanted to go.”

Ivy’s frown deepened. Something definitely wasn’t right. This was too clean, too structured for Lavi to be doing this naturally. Whatever the redhead was planning, the Japanese girl was certain she didn’t want anything to do with it.

“Why not ask Allen or Lenalee to go with you?” she presented. Sure, she was considered a friend by Lavi—it didn’t take much to reach that categorization—but he had known the other two longer. Far longer. Plus Lenalee was way more into excursions into the wild and Allen was too polite to decline unless something major came up. Securing a _yes_ from either of the duo was far easier.

“The Brit’s quick,” Lavi said, not missing a beat. “He already got a date with Lenalee.”

Ivy smiled before she could stop herself. Allen and Lenalee had been waffling around their crushes on each other since Ivy had transferred in, and it had probably started long before that. The Japanese girl had always wondered when the British boy would work up the courage to ignore the possible damages caused by Komui to ask Lenalee on a proper date. As long as the aforementioned older brother didn’t find out, they’d be fine.

_Wait a minute—_

That was all it took for the last clue to fall into place. “Lavi Bookman, are you asking me out on a date?” It was such a split second realization that Ivy couldn’t put any other emotion in her voice than curiosity.

Lavi presented a sheepish grin. Everything was going exactly as he thought it would, even if there were a few lies mixed in. Then again, if things went right, those wouldn’t matter at all.

“Uh, well, I suppose,” he said, with intentional nervousness. “I mean, if that’s okay with you and you’re not busy on Friday.”

Proposal complete, Lavi waited. This was the linchpin, sink or swim. Of course, there were other options, but this was the best one. The redhead didn’t want to think of how long the SSGTIK would have to wait for another opportunity if his fell through.

Resigned, Ivy sighed. If Kanda really was going to be busy, that gave her nothing else to do. And at this point, she didn’t want to just sit around the apartment all on her own, either.

“Sure,” she said, “why not?”

Inside, Lavi let the fireworks fly.


	6. 6. “Just because you won’t…”

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

6\. “Just because _you_ won’t…”

* * *

In the scheduling mess that was Kanda’s life, he was at least grateful that he had managed to score a free period as well as a study hall. Sure, the study hall was shared with Lavi, but the free period gave him space to go wherever he saw fit and actually gain some personal space. It was also luck that Ivy had her own free period at the same time, during which they usually met up to work together and occasionally chatted in one of the free study rooms at the school.

Kanda settled into the room, laying out his textbooks and trying to get his homework assignments together. The only real complaint he had was his free period was two classes after lunch, meaning he couldn’t just get all of his homework for the day out of the way—a pretty fucking stupid setup if you asked him. Within minutes, Ivy entered the room as well, giving a greeting and a small wave. After a few bits of small talk—how their days had been, had any permanent damage been caused to people or objects—Kanda decided that he should just get it over with and ask Ivy about the whole debacle with a certain redhead.

“So,” Kanda said, sounding a lot more awkward than he would usually let _anyone_ else hear, “was the Rabbit acting strange today?”

Ivy paused in setting her own work out before she realized that just screamed suspicious. She hadn’t really been planning on mentioning the date, mainly because Kanda didn’t exactly need to know. “Isn’t he always?” she smoothly retorted, hoping that would be enough.

Kanda pressed on. “I mean stranger than usual.” The Rabbit had probably just been running his mouth, but that was a pretty risky way to try and run it. Because, even if Kanda didn’t like to admit it, he _knew_ Lavi could read him. For acting like such a dumbass, Lavi got people, and there was a zero to none chance that he hadn’t picked up on Kanda’s…affections. Because it wasn’t a crush. Kanda Yu did _not_ get crushes.

“Lavi was Lavi.” Normally, that could settle matters. Ivy went to find an old assignment sheet for reference, only to find her folder a complete mess. Ugh, when had that even happened? She started to organize the papers, not looking up. Lavi must have done something stupid to get Kanda this worked up.

“Okay,” Kanda said, his voice coming out more agitated than either of them had expected. Disgruntled, the boy found the chapter he was supposed to be reviewing for his history class and flipped open the corresponding notebook.

Ivy finally looked up, trying to read Kanda’s expression. Sure, his default was a frown, but there was a crease between his eyebrows that were furrowed farther than usual. His irritation was getting pretty high. Ivy couldn’t just let that go. “Why?” she asked, keeping her voice gentle. “You seem worried.” Finding a piece of old test review points that had been memorized long ago, Ivy crumbled it into a ball, it was soon joining the contents of a nearby trashcan.

“Two points,” Kanda scored, and Ivy smiled. Knowing that it was best to work and talk at the same time, Kanda began taking down notes, trying to figure out how to pursue the topic without sounding completely obviously. “If I had to say, he was acting distinctly extra Lavi-ish earlier.”

Ivy quietly snorted. “‘Lavi-ish’?” she questioned. “Do you realize how close that is to ‘lavish’?” Come to think of it, maybe she shouldn’t put those two words together. The connotations were just plain out weird.

“And three points for vocabulary,” Kanda allowed. “You’re just racking the points today.”

Ivy could feel herself relax a bit. These were the sort of moments she preferred to have with Kanda over anything else—the tiny calm and quiet that couldn’t happen with anyone else. “Well then, two points for saying ‘vocabulary’ instead of ‘vocab’.”

“But you say ‘vocab’.”

Ivy’s smile widened a bit. “So?” Kanda smiled a bit, too, ready to provide a follow up, only to be cut off by Ivy’s phone vibrating in her pocket. She usually left the thing on in case of an emergency, especially since the most of her contacts were in classes at same time. Kanda understood, and Ivy tried to give him an apologetic look as she answered it. “Hello?”

“ _Hey there, Ivy-chan!_ ” The voice on the other end was loud enough to be heard without speakerphone. Ivy glanced to Kanda, who was grimacing. Sure, Lavi had the same free period as them, but he wasn’t one for studying, so the rabbit usually hung out elsewhere. “ _I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow?_ ”

 _Jesus fucking Christ._ Ivy scrambled to turn the volume on her phone down, but the damage was already done. Kanda’s expression had contorted, right on the border between annoyance and absolute death sentence for whoever had pissed him off. “Lavi, we can talk about this later,” she said, sounding more panicked than she would have liked. Without giving the redhead a chance to reply, she hung up and placed her phone on silent. “Kanda-san—”

“So…” Kanda drawled, just barely controlling his voice. The result was something emotionless, which only made Ivy feel worse. “You’re the Rabbit’s girlfriend then.” Part of Kanda couldn’t actually believe it. Sure, he knew Lavi would go through with asking Ivy out to mess with him, but he had never thought she would say yes. In fact, he always thought that the person she had liked…

“It’s only one date,” Ivy protested. God, why couldn’t she just breathe like a normal person?

Kanda could tell he was on the verge of snapping, and he seriously wished that tables weren’t so breakable. Tiedoll had to be tired of getting bills from the school by now. And, of course, when hitting things wasn’t an option, the next obvious step was to yell about it.

“I thought you said he wasn’t acting weird!” Kanda accused. His voice roared, but Ivy didn’t flinch.

“He wasn’t!” she shouted back. “He was just being Lavi!” She knew better than to be afraid. Yes, Kanda was angry, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. And even putting that aside, it was a simple fact that standing up to him was necessary at times.

“Well, that sure as hell doesn’t mean you had to say ‘yes’!” Seriously, had he been wrong this whole time?

Ivy resisted the urge to scoff, but it didn’t make her feel any less indignant. “Just because _you_ won’t ask me out doesn’t mean other guys can’t!” she retorted. Because, really, just how much of this was she supposed to take? They had been waffling around the issue, and it hadn’t gotten any better. What did Kanda expect? That she was just supposed to sit around and wait for him to stop being so stubborn.

The two stared at each other, all silent save for attempts to catch breath.

“I have to go,” Ivy said. She quickly gathered up her books, not caring for the state of her papers. Those could be fixed, replaced. This moment…she needed to get out. Once she was out the door, Kanda slumped back into his chair.

_Fuck._

* * *

Ivy managed to find another empty study room and locked the door behind her, almost falling backwards to lean against the wall. Had… Had she really said all this stuff? Was she trying to make this situation Kanda’s fault?

 _It really isn’t,_ she tried to reason, but part of her wanted to be. This whole time, she had mostly said yes to Lavi, hoping that Kanda would make a big deal out of it. Because if he reacted, then that meant he had to care at least some for her, didn’t it?

But even if it did, that didn’t excuse what she did. Because in the end, she was just manipulating him, and it was beyond unfair to do that to someone that cared enough to get that angry over it.

Ivy let out a shaky breath.

“I’m seriously the worst…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Bkuigwsiy for the kudos!


	7. 7. Friday Morning: The Beginning

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

7\. Friday Morning: The Beginning

* * *

Ivy woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, not feeling a single ounce better than she had lying down the night before. Even though common sense could say that it was logical to just apologize to Kanda, she hadn’t convinced herself to do it, and the fact that he had avoided her the rest of the day hadn’t helped matters one bit.

But the fact was that her phone was still ringing, and it didn’t seem like it wanted to stop. She could always let it go to voicemail, but answering would stop it faster. Ivy groaned and reached out to her bed stand, bringing the phone under the covers to answer. “Hello?”

“ _Good morning, Ivy!_ ” the voice on the other end sang. There was only one person in Ivy’s immediate contacts that could have that much energy so early in the morning. While Allen and Lenalee were personable, they still were a bit sluggish, and Kanda was a whole other matter entirely. The only thing brighter than Lavi’s hair was the sunshine he seemed able to spew out without any trouble.

“Ah, Lavi!” Ivy sat up in bed, trying to figure out what time it actually was. Somehow, she had managed to forget that she had a date in the first place, which was the reason for this whole fiasco. Still, she tried to shake any traces of sleepiness away, following up with “How are you?”

“ _I’m great,_ ” Lavi declared, shooting off the next few sentences in a rapid fire. “ _What about you? I didn’t wake you up, did I? You didn’t stay up late, did you? Oh, I know, you were bursting with excitement and couldn’t fall asleep! Well, don’t you fret. I can pick you up and we can grab some breakfast together!_ ”

Part of Ivy swore that Lavi just got a kick out of trying to catch his friends off guard. She stifled a yawn. If there was one certainty, it was never show weakness to Lavi. He was just way too good at figuring people out. Well, if he wasn’t distracted by whatever desert the cafeteria was serving for the day.

Trying to retort to all of Lavi’s points would take more brainpower than Ivy possessed at the moment—she had literally just started functioning. Asking for more than simple conversation was a bit much, let alone keeping up with a boy whose mouth ran as fast as his rabbity nickname. She would have to settle.

“As long as you’re paying for the food and coffee, I’m game,” she said.

Lavi let out an exaggerated gasp. “ _Miss Minomasu, I would never be as crass as to invite a girl out and not offer to front the bill!_ ” he said. Ivy was so worn down she almost laughed at his antics. After all, miracles can happen, even if they are sometimes caused by people losing control of their guard. “ _If you’ll be so kind as to let me know the directions to your place, I’ll be happy to pick you up and we can get the day started._ ”

Ivy rallied of the instructions, all the while trying not to sound rushed to hang up so she could shower. Even if hunger was iffy as a weakness, being unprepared certainly counted in its place.

* * *

Kanda woke up to find himself sprawled out on his desk, homework assignments from the previous night beneath him. Nothing had really gotten done immediately after the argument, and the same could be said of his attempts to just drown himself in the stuff when he got home. Come to think of it, had he even eaten dinner last night?

“Who the fuck cares?” Kanda grumbled. He didn’t feel hungry. In the end, homework was something that had to get done and there was no sense of procrastinating on it. He looked over the work again, trying to figure out a good place to start, but had no such luck. The more he tried, the more he realized how dissatisfied he was over his fight with Ivy.

Kanda reached for his cellphone, powered it back on, and went to his speed dial. For a second, his finger hovered over the one, but he pressed four instead.

* * *

Lavi double-checked himself in the mirror. Casual but fashion attentive enough clothes to get Lenalee’s seal of approval? Check. Hair looking windswept yet combed at the same time? Check. Shiny new eyepatch? Check. Teeth brushed? Hey, don’t look so surprised, hygiene is some _serious stuff_ , got it?

“Yup, you’re looking good,” he said, pointing a finger at the mirror. His reflection grinned. “Thanks, me.”

Yup, he was serious. Even if this whole date had been a ploy to get Kanda’s attention, that didn’t mean Lavi wasn’t going to take it seriously. Besides, Ivy thought this was serious (enough), so he couldn’t just disrespect that. Lavi would treat Ivy as well as he could, until she decided to go home or Kanda got fed up enough to actually do something about it.

Just as Lavi was running his usual leave the house checklist (phone, wallet, keys, good looks), his phone blared the opening riff to “Can’t Touch This” loud enough to echo off the walls.

Even better, the caller ID read _Yu-pon_.

“Hello!” Lavi chirped in answer. He was grinning wide enough to make his cheek press awkwardly against the phone. Man, why couldn’t good moods be more contagious? Everyone deserved to feel as good as Lavi did when his plans started to come together, to say nothing of when they properly succeeded.

“ _Stupid Rabbit, tell me when your date is and how long,_ ” Kanda replied, his voice curt. These were the sort of situations that had caused Kanda to keep Lavi’s number in the first place—in the event of absolute stupidity or trouble.

Of course, Lavi knew what he was after. That didn’t mean he had to make this easy. _Besides, if he really cares about Ivy, he’ll be willing to put up with my “bullshit” at least for a little bit, right?_

“Yu-pon!” Lavi exclaimed, putting far more enthusiasm than needed into his voice. And that was measured by Lavi standards. Forget it if you were a normal person. Become instantly anything from irritated to enraged if you’re Kanda Yu. “You hardly ever call me. Like, ever! This is such a surprise, how are you?”

“ _Just fucking answer me._ ” Ah, the absolute venom of a certain pissed off Japanese teen…

“Well, someone’s grumpy!” Almost all the time Lavi’s enthusiasm was natural, and he really did face the world with absolute joy. But that didn’t stop him from understanding just the sort of effect he had on others, especially his best friend. So, Lavi laughed a bit, laying it on as thick as possible. “Well, since you asked, I was just getting ready to leave. Ivy-chan and I are gonna grab breakfast, and then we’ll just stay out ‘til we get bored or tired.”

“ _You’re driving._ ” Kanda sounded utterly dumbfounded. Lavi felt offended. Just because there was that _one time_ when he had just gotten his license… It was an honest mistake anyone could make! _No, don’t get distracted,_ Lavi chided himself. _He’s saying that ‘cause he’s worried about Ivy, not ‘cause he thinks you suck._

Feeling better already, Lavi did his best to push his smile through the phone. “Yessiree! I dunno, I was thinking of maybe letting her come over and hang out afterwards.” Ah, the phone sounded it like it was crackling from Kanda’s end. That probably wasn’t good. Still, persevere… “Then again, my place is kind of a mess, so maybe it would be better to go to her place. Or do you think that’s moving too fast?”

“ _You better not fucking crash,_ ” Kanda growled, and like that, the line was dead.

_I hope he hung up and didn’t break his phone…It’s been a few years since he did that._

Ah, the blissful nostalgia of memories…

But that didn’t change the fact that Lavi had successfully cranked up Kanda’s irritation to record levels. Closing his own phone a bit more gently than normal (it was serving him well and deserved to be appreciated!), Lavi smiled, heading towards the front door.

“Really, Yu-pon,” he said to himself, “you’re just a bit too easy to mess with


	8. 8. "We've Got Him"

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

8\. “We’ve Got Him”

* * *

While Lavi Bookman _was_ a super fly aficionado of all things getting his best friend hooked up with a girl who had an equal interest in the other party, it was not the redhead’s only skill. And while he considered that Ivy just might have still been in the process of waking up (she _did_ have a habit of sleeping in after all), he figured the almost drowsy tone in her voice meant something else.

His suspicions were only confirmed when Ivy was almost despondent the entire car ride to the local Denny’s. She had hardly even reacted to jokes and pickup lines. Those deserved at least a blush? An eye roll? Anything! For the sake of Lavi’s cheerful ego, this had to be corrected!

Oh, and because she was his friend and he cared about her. That sort of stuff counted, too.

“So, wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” Lavi asked once they had settled in at the table.

Ivy stopped staring at her coffee and blinked, as if remembering that she needed doctor up and possibly drink the stuff, as well as Lavi’s presence entirely. “I’m sorry?” she said, sounding every bit of distracted as she looked.

Lavi tapped his forehead. “What’s goin’ on inside here,” he said, keeping up his smile. Ivy tried to replicate the expression but didn’t quite make it. Lavi grabbed a few sugar packets and passed them on, letting her avoid eye contact for a bit. “You can share with me, Ivy-chan. I _am_ capable of listening after all.”

Ivy paused, fighting with one of the sugar packets. Eventually, it ripped, and she tipped it over her cup. “I…” She hesitated. Did she really want to talk about this? Was it _okay_ to talk about this? It was supposed to be a date, nothing really serious, just for fun, but… _I can’t focus like this and I know it._ Taking a deep breath, Ivy stirred a bit of cream into her cup. “Kanda-san and I got into a fight,” she admitted.

It was probably the quietest Lavi had ever heard her voice.

The redhead grimaced a bit, knowing this had to be bad. As far as he knew, Kanda hadn’t seriously lost his temper with Ivy around, and definitely not in her direction. Trying to seem casual, he sipped at his own cup. “I don’t mean to pry, but do you want to talk about it, or…” He left the question open, but Ivy responded more readily than he had expected.

“He was mad because you and I were going on a date,” she grumbled. Already, the irritation was coming back, replacing the sense of guilt she had had before. “It’s so stupid! Where does he even get off with that kind of attitude? It’s not like I’m in a relationship at all. Who I go out with, romantically or otherwise, is my business!” Ivy took a deep drink from her coffee, which gave off the illusion of being relaxing, before bringing it back to the table with a bit more force than necessary.

Lavi dabbed a napkin at the small spill, but let Ivy carry on. A bit of venting was good every now and then. Hell, venting was practically Kanda’s existence, and people like Allen and Lenalee, despite their good intentions, couldn’t keep polite forever. Lavi was glad to act as a sounding board when needed.

“Che, if it bothers him so much, he should’ve done something about it sooner,” Ivy said, her expression wavering into dangerous territory. It was incredible how someone could look like they wanted to strangle someone and cry all at once. “It’s not my fault if people like me. Sure, I don’t get it but… Ah, not to say anything about your taste, Lavi.”

“It’s okay, you’re just modest,” Lavi assured. Ivy actually rolled her eyes at that one. She wasn’t self-absorbed enough to believe that one anytime soon. “From what I can guess, it sounds like Yu-pon really overreacted. You’re right; it’s completely your business.”

Ivy nodded, feeling better having said things instead of just thinking them. Still, it didn’t change the fact that she had said some things she probably should’ve kept to herself, or at least presented more calmly. Dammit, she was supposed to be the voice of reason between the two of them.

“Do you really think it’s okay?” she asked, because part of her really wasn’t sure. “I’m not being awful for wanting to go out and have fun with someone else, am I?”

Lavi nodded. If this day didn’t go as planned—which it totally would!—he was going to have a serious talk with Kanda. Or maybe it wouldn’t be so serious. Maybe Lavi would get punched, possibly multiple times. But, hey, as long as the message was delivered, Lavi didn’t quite mind being the one who got shot over it.

“Ivy-chan,” the redhead said, putting on his best grin, “if it’s fun you want, I’m more than happy to indulge.”

* * *

Stomach full and conscience somewhat relieved of burden, Ivy did her best to relax underneath Lavi’s arm. Sure, it was a bit weird, mainly because she wasn’t really used to close-up contact, but the warmth was an added bonus given that autumn was definitely doing its metaphorical best to keep the temperature at chilly. In the crowd from the festival, it also served as a prevention measure to getting separated.

“So, what should we do first?” Lavi asked, his free arm extended out and nearly hitting a passing person in the head. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had moved around a lot, but Lavi always managed to get excited by the fall festival, even though (or possibly because of the fact that) it came around every year. “Food? Attractions? Rides?”

“Rides, huh?” Ivy wryly questioned. While it wasn’t her first festival, it was still something she seriously had to get used to. The last year’s festival had mostly been a blur as everyone dragged her around all over the place, so she hadn’t exactly had time to form preferences.

Lavi didn’t disappoint in the expected reaction, and was nearly bouncing with each step, which managed to build up an interesting friction between his arm and Ivy’s shoulder. “Yeah, you know. Coasters, swings, the Ferris wheel?” he listed off. That was only an added benefit to the whole _Ask-Ivy-on-a-Date-to-Force-Yu-pon-into-Asking-Her-Out_ plan. He got to have fun in the process! Two birds with one stone!

Lavi was rewarded by Ivy finally smiling. “Sure, that sounds fun,” she admitted. Fair rides were something she hadn’t tried out too much in a very long time. Normally, it seemed like something childish to ask for, so Ivy didn’t. But, if Lavi was the one suggesting it, that made the situation better.

Or maybe not because they were a couple of teenagers in their senior year of high school engaging in the most elementary of school past times, but Ivy chose not to view it that way. The thought hadn’t even crossed Lavi’s mind.

“Alright, then come on!” Lavi cheered, finding an open spot in the crowd and running through it. “The rides await!”

Ivy laughed a bit, immediately taking chase. Even if it wasn’t meant as a challenge, that didn’t mean she couldn’t take it as one. “That’s called a false start, you know!”

Trying not to be too obvious about the whole thing, Kanda stomped his foot instead of kicking the nearby trashcan.

Spying on the date didn’t seem wrong to Kanda, and it wouldn’t be too hard to admit that it actually made him feel a lot better about the situation. For one, he knew what was going on instead of sitting at home and wondering like a dumbass. It also served as assurance that Lavi wouldn’t do anything stupid to Ivy, because Kanda would kick the crap out of the rabbit if he even came close.

Keeping up with the couple—ugh, just thinking that made Kanda want to vomit—wouldn’t have been hard if he wasn’t trying to be incognito about the whole thing. Something about towering rather close to six foot tall seemed to make him stick out ridiculously in normal situations, let alone this. Fortunately, Lavi had some height himself, and his head of red hair was easy to spot in the crowd.

_Damn, he’s taking her to the Ferris wheel!_

There was no way Kanda would be able to interfere if Ivy and Lavi were on that thing. Still, he needed to keep close, just in case. Maybe he would be able to stop the ride, or create some sort of distraction that would stop them from getting on.

Doing his best to keep behind concession stands and bushes, Kanda followed.

* * *

Having secured a perch atop a nearby office building (it was amazing the places you could get when you mentioned being Lee Komui’s famed little sister), Lenalee adjusted the binoculars that Lavi had specifically purchased for the day’s mission. Soon enough, she could see Lavi’s hair bouncing through the crowd, and Ivy was close behind. Finding Kanda took a bit more effort, but soon Lenalee had track of all three of their positions.

“Looks like things are going good,” she remarked with a small smile.

“Good,” Allen croaked, sounding pretty miserable. “I think I’m getting sick.” The British boy finished his complaint with a sneeze, then shuddered on top of his shivering. He absolutely _abhorred_ getting sick. At this point, he wanted to go home. None of Lavi’s ridiculous schemes was worth this, even if it had the potential of sedating Kanda in the future.

Lenalee felt for Allen, she really did. But this wouldn’t be over until the mission was complete, so the quickest way to get the Brit secured was to get this whole matter settled. After a bit, Lavi and Ivy settled into the Ferris wheel line, and Kanda ducked behind a bush a few feet away soon after.

Lenalee immediately reached for her cellphone.

* * *

Lavi’s phone rang. After a short apology to Ivy, he dug it out to answer.

It was Lenalee’s voice on the other end: “ _Lavi, we’ve got him._ ”


	9. 9. A Little Bit Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of the rewritten chapters. From here on out, it's all the original parts as they originally uploaded to fanfiction.

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

9\. A Little Bit Closer

* * *

No sooner than Lenalee had said the words did Lavi have to resist the urge to grin. Seriously, it was the best thing he had heard all day. The entire plan was coming together perfectly. And everyone had doubted him…really, this was all too simple. Not bothering to give Lenalee a verbal response, Lavi shut his phone and shoved it to his pocket, turning back to his date.

“What was that about?” Ivy asked. Sure, Lavi was weird. Lavi would talk to books when he thought no one was looking. But Lavi tended to be at least slightly saner when it came to human interaction (with an extra large emphasis on _sane_ ), and hanging up only after answering his phone was definitely unusual.

“Oh, just a spam call,” Lavi dismissed. He’d have to apologize to Lenalee for that remark later, but for now, anything for the success of the plan! Besides, it was Lavi’s last role in this particular drama, so he needed to just go for it and get to the point. “Ivy, be perfectly honest with me about this: You want to be here with Yu-pon, don’t you?”

“Eh?” Ivy blurted out the meaningless syllable before she could even catch herself. This wasn’t good. Lavi was striking forward with no inhibitions, and he wasn’t even going to give her the common courtesy of formulating a response. “U-um, well…” she stammered, feeling the temperature radiate right out of her face.

Of course, Lavi was an expert in translating stutter. Or, rather, he had planned the situation so that the answer would have to be “yes.” Grinning, he pulled his phone back out, flipping it open. “Because if you do, I can arrange that,” he declared.

Ivy’s eyes widened. Lavi chose to take that as a flustered panic. Ivy knew for a fact, that she wasn’t ready to talk to Kanda again, not after that fight. Sure, she still felt irritated, but mostly she felt guilty. “W-wait, Lavi!” she protested, considering tackling the redhead to stop him, even if it could cause social awkwardness. Ah, to hell with it! Ivy tried to find the best place to knock the Rabbit off balance—

Too late. Lavi pressed three for his speed dial with unnecessary flourish, setting it to speaker phone for added effect. Ivy’s heart only sped up which each ring, hoping that maybe Kanda wouldn’t even pick up. It _was_ Lavi calling after all.

But part of her couldn’t help but think if Kanda did pick up. Lavi would make a big show of everything, milking the fact that Ivy wanted Kanda to be around. Hell, there might even be a meet up on the redhead’s mind. But Ivy knew that wouldn’t happen, because Kanda probably didn’t even want to talk to her.

_And even if he did, I would have no clue how to apologize._

Within seconds, a nearby bush began to blare a hard rock guitars in response. Lavi grinned his biggest grin of the day. Oh, the moment when a plan came together…

Ivy jumped, recognizing the song. It was Kanda’s “Stupid Rabbit” Ringtone (“At least if I pick an alright song, it might be less annoying. Maybe.”). As if any more confirmation was needed, a loud curse came from the same bush, and Kanda stood up, brushing leaves off his jacket and looking livid. He declined the phone call, turning the device completely off and shoving it into his pocket while glaring straight down to Lavi’s rabbit-shaped soul.

“I am going to absolutely kill you,” he growled. First, a date with Ivy, and then this? The rabbit was just asking for it. Kanda almost considered riding the Ferris wheel with him so that he could toss Lavi off the top of it.

Of course, Kanda was also pissed at himself for being stupid enough to leave his phone on in the first place, at least without putting it on silent first. Not that much could really be done about it, now, though.

“Kanda-san?” Ivy questioned. Really, it was time to face the consequences.

Kanda sighed, redirecting his attention from Lavi. “Hey, Ivy.”

“Kanda-san, what are you—? I mean…” The Japanese girl found herself unable to form a proper sentence. Her guilt was back in full force (it was Kanda’s fault she was here in the first place), but it _still_ took a backseat to her utter _confusion_. Nothing about this situation made sense!

They remained silent for a few moments. After collecting her thoughts, Minomasu Ivy was able to recognize a few facts, the main one being that she was at the fall festival. About to get on a Ferris wheel. With Kanda Yu.

And Lavi Bookman was nowhere in sight.

_Ah, shit._

* * *

“Nicely performed, Lavi,” Lenalee complimented the redhead as he joined the stakeout on top of the office building in record time. She spared a smile before turning her attention back through the binoculars as Ivy and Kanda loaded into their compartment of the Ferris wheel. Then again, the building was pretty close by, so binoculars might not have been entirely necessary at this point.

“Wasn’t it?” Lavi excitedly replied. No, he wasn’t bragging. He was accepting a compliment with grace while feeling rightly proud of himself. He pulled out a set of small binoculars from his jacket pocket, checking on Ivy and Kanda’s position. “Brit, could I have the camera?”

Said Brit nodded and reached into his nearby camera bag. Allen had a passing interest in photography, which had led to Cross buying him ridiculously expensive camera (Allen didn’t want to think of the debt) as pretty much a bribe to get Allen to shut the hell up in his presence. The boy was more than willing to never speak a word to Cross again. Passing the requested item to Lavi, Allen had to do his best not to drop the camera from his shivering. “Can we go home soon?” he asked.

“Soon, Brit, soon,” Lavi assured fixing his camera on Ivy and Kanda below. The Ferris wheel was still loading, so they would be still for a bit longer, making the shot easier. Of course, the camera was pretty legit, too, so there probably wouldn’t be any issues getting a quality image. “Hey, check it out! Looks like things are getting interesting for our favorite couple.”

The amount of enthusiasm in his voice was almost enough to choke on.

* * *

The couple in question was currently in the middle of an extremely awkward silence. Ivy hadn’t even gotten the slightest chance to get over her previous worries, and she had yet to say a proper thing. Kanda, while having intended to eventually interrupt the date anyway, realized that he hadn’t really figured out the parts after that,

The fact that they were alone inside a Ferris wheel compartment didn’t really help matters, either.

Kanda had directed his gaze out the window. The farther up they went, the more people he could see crowded in the festival and he couldn’t really believe it. Of course, he couldn’t believe that _he_ had come to this goddamn thing. All because Lavi was a moron. This couldn’t be right.

Finally, Ivy figured that she should say something. “Kanda-san,” she quietly asked, “why did you follow us?”

Kanda made himself look at her. She wasn’t really looking properly at him, but something in her voice had almost shook. Time to be honest and come clean about everything—serious matters and rabbit shit. _Well, here goes nothing._

“Ivy—” he started, then realized he had stumbled. _Ah, dammit._ Ivy raised her head, expression blank. Kanda almost got the impression of an interrogation. “I was worried, okay? I didn’t want him doing anything to you.” _Especially just to get to me._

Ivy felt her shoulders slump the instant she heard the words. “Oh, why didn’t you just tell me that yesterday?” She sounded exasperated, and Kanda didn’t blame her. “Why haven’t we just asked each other out and gotten it over with?”

It was the question Ivy had been wondering for herself for a few months. Kanda paused before opening his mouth.

He guessed the rate she cut him off at only proved he didn’t have the right to answer.

“Who _cares_ what Lavi thinks?” she challenged. “If that’s your only problem, then you can just get over it! I’m tired of this!” Ivy’s voice rose in volume. Kanda wondered how long she had been holding in the frustration. And when it came down to it, did he really care more about the Rabbit’s opinion then he did about her? “I swear, Kanda, sometimes you can be such a—”

And Kanda decided to cut her off his way.

Suddenly, getting into arguments didn’t matter so much anymore.

* * *

_Flash!_

“Woot! Perfect shot!” Lavi cheered, throwing his hands into the air. Even in his sluggish state, Allen was able to panic at his camera getting pushed that high up in Lavi’s grip, which only made the drop to the ground below seem that much more likely. “Good jog, gang!” Satisfied by his celebration, Lavi dropped his hands (and the camera) safely to his lap, and Allen was able to breathe as easy as one could with the beginnings of a stuffy nose.

“Can we go home now?” Allen asked. He needed a nap. One that lasted the weekend preferably. And some medicine. And tea. And preferably a bath with a guaranteed antibacterial scrub that would purge any trace of germs from his body.

“We can do whatever we want now, Brit.” Lavi had already gotten permission to borrow the camera, so there was no point in keeping the Brit around any longer. Grumbling out a nearly indistinct “Good,” Allen sulked away. Lavi would be sure to properly thank his friend when Monday rolled around. Focusing for now on the camera’s screen, Lavi took a moment to admire his handiwork, Lenalee leaning over his shoulder.

“It is a good shot,” she complimented, and Lavi beamed even brighter. At this rate, his sunshine output would give away their location. “So what’s the next step, Colonel?”

“Oh, I’ve got ideas, Commodore. I’ve got ideas.”

And it was moments like this that reassured Lavi that everything was absolutely worth it.

* * *

A normally peaceful Saturday morning was experiencing interruptions from the Stupid Rabbit Ring Tone (patent pending). Kanda really, _really_ didn’t want to pick it up, but experience proved that if he didn’t, Lavi would keep calling.

And calling.

And _calling_.

Of course, blocking the number didn’t work, either. Lavi was a persistent one, and Kanda got the feeling that the Rabbit would be utterly content with changing his number until Kanda gave in. This hadn’t actually happened, but Kanda was so convinced it would that he hadn’t even bothered to try it.

Reluctantly, Kanda picked up the phone.

“ _Good morning, Yu-pon!_ ” Lavi sang on the other line, making Kanda wish they were actually around each other in person. That sort of thing made throttling so much easier. “ _Sorry about yesterday, Lenalee needed my help and I can’t just leave a lovely lady hanging!_ ” Never mind the fact that he had left Ivy behind to flail just to keep from drowning. Besides, Ivy was a trooper.

“Get to the point, Rabbit,” Kanda growled. He still had all the weekend’s homework to do, thanks to a _certain someone_.

Lavi let out his standard overdramatic sigh before continuing on in that way-too-fucking-peppy tone. “ _But, you won’t believe what happened, Yu-pon. When I was with Lena, I got the_ best _picture!_ ”

Kanda had a bad feeling about this. Then again, he always had an awful feeling whenever Lavi opened his mouth, so maybe there was nothing to worry about. “What picture? What the hell are you even talking about?”

In answer, Kanda’s phone vibrated, letting him now he had a picture message. Knowing he would probably regret this, Kanda let the data load through his Wi-Fi connection.

“ _So, whatcha think? Pretty sweet shot, huh?_ ”

“Fucking Rabbit, I hope you’re ready to die,” he threatened, teeth clenched, immediately hanging up the phone and tossing it on his bed. He didn’t look at the picture, but he could still see it. Sure, he was pissed at Lavi for taking it (because who wouldn’t be), but… it had actually happened. The picture was proof enough. For both him _and_ Lavi.

Lying down Kanda reached for his phone again. He pressed one, hoping the person on the other end would answer.

Ivy did answer, sounding half asleep. “ _Hello?_ ”

“Ivy?” Kanda asked, trying not to be too loud.

“ _Kanda-san!_ ” Her voice perked up instantly. Kanda actually smiled a bit. “ _Um, what’s up?_ ”

“You know the homework I was supposed to be doing yesterday?” Ivy gave a small hum of the affirmative. “Well, due to unforeseen events, I was unable to do so. And it’s kind of a lot, so maybe some help…?”

It was probably a lame excuse to see her, but they had formed the habit of doing their homework together, anyways. Sure, Lavi would laugh, but to Kanda, it _meant_ something.

“ _So you want my…help._ ” It was more of a statement than a question, with the right bite of sarcasm to it. As far as Kanda could tell, she was feeling a lot better, and that was enough to let him relax more.

“I guess you could say that.” The traded off what times would be good, and Ivy promised she’d be over soon, once she had woke up properly. Kanda said that it was fine, and was getting ready to hang up, but Ivy’s voice stopped him.

“ _Hey,_ ” she said, sounding a bit awkward again, the same tone she had used the rest of the day after they had gotten out of the Ferris wheel. “ _Again, about Thursday…I’m sorry._ ”

Kanda blinked. Really, he had forgotten about the whole thing already, or at least wasn’t annoyed by it anymore. But Ivy still sounded hung up on it. He really didn’t blame her, but that didn’t mean she needed to sound so guilty!

“Forget about it,” he said, “or else I’ll just have to make you stop talking about it again.” He wondered if she had blushed about that, mainly because it felt like his skin was heating up the slightest amount. “Now stop worrying about stupid things and get over here. This homework isn’t going to do itself.”

Ivy let out a small laugh, though Kanda couldn’t quite place the tone. “ _Yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you soon!_ ”

Having hung up, Kanda closed his eyes, letting himself relax into meditation for a bit. It would still be some time before Ivy got her shower and things together, plus the drive. He could afford to relax for a moment.

And Kanda exhaled, knowing that he was a little bit closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Bkuigwsiy for the bookmark!


	10. 10. Reason to Kill: Lavi has a Camera

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

10\. Reason to Kill: Lavi has a Camera

* * *

Ivy walked up to the front door of Kanda's house, a smile on her face. Sure, she could catch the bus, but it was a nice day, and walking seemed more… sensible After all, the apartment complex that Ivy lived in wasn't all too far away. The house that she now stood in front of wasn't completely enormous, but still pretty large with the number of floors being three. Ivy had always wondered why Tiedoll had a house this size when he was hardly there and Kanda normally confined himself to his room.

Okay, folks, no denying it; Ivy was completely and utterly excited about this. Kanda wanted to spend time with her. Just her. I'm pretty sure you realize this, but that meant no Allen, no Lenalee, and most importantly no, I repeat, _no,_ stupid rabbit. It didn't even matter to her that there was going to be homework involved. Time together was still time together.

Knowing that Kanda was most likely not to give a crap that she did so, Ivy opened the door without bothering to ring the doorbell.

"Kanda-san, I'm here!" she called out.

"Living room!" was the shouted response.

Now happily humming, Ivy made her way through the halls of Kanda's house. Many of the walls had Tiedoll's drawings hanging on them. She stopped at a particular drawing of a silver moon hanging over an ocean. It was the first of the many pictures Ivy had seen during the previous year when she had come over to work on the multiple science projects Komui had assigned. The picture still remained her favorite.

Shaking off the now growing feeling of nostalgia that was forming, Ivy continued making her way down the hallway. When she made it to the dining room, she peeked her head inside to see Kanda sitting at the end of a table that was, like the house it was located in, too big for the two people that seldom used it.

"Tiedoll out today?" she inquired, making her way to said table. _Thunk!_ Her bag hit the table and she sat down across from Kanda.

"He's out on another business trip," the male informed. "I'm surprised you made it out thus quick," he remarked.

"Hey, you're the one that invited me, so no complaints," Ivy responded, her tone light. "So, what exactly do we need to work on? I'm up to anything." She took a closer look at Kanda and frowned. "What's wrong, Kanda-san?"

"Huh?" Kanda replied, caught off guard. Ivy had the talent of saying things when they weren't expected.

"Something's bothering you, Kanda-san. I can tell. If you don't want me to notice, I'll ignore it, but… I'd feel a lot better if you told me," she said, her tone concerned. Her eyes reflected the same worried emotion.

Kanda sighed. How was he supposed to refuse, especially with her looking like that? Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone, opened up the dreaded picture, shuddered once, and then pressed send. When Ivy realized what he was doing, she retrieved her own phone out of her pocket. Upon seeing the sent photo, her face went red. If Kanda hadn't been inwardly seething at the rabbit, he might have noticed that she was cute when embarrassed.

"W-what-? I mean, how in the world-" she stammered.

"Rabbit," Kanda supplied.

"Oh." Silence. "Kanda –san, can we not worry about this right now? I mean, let's take care of this mess later," Ivy suggested. "What should we work on first?"

Kanda accepted the change of topic, but Ivy continued working things out on her mind. No, she was not one who easily forgave these sorts of things. Settling on a plan in her mind, Ivy slowly moved her phone under the table and began typing out a message.

Lavi's phone beeped, notifying him of the incoming text message. Seeing that the sender was Ivy, he raised an eyebrow. Already forming a theory on its contents, he opened it.

_Lavi, what the hell?_

A smile formed on Lavi's face. He _had_ been planning to leave the two alone today. This was an invitation to get involved. He quickly typed out a reply.

_-Aw, Yu-pon showed you the picture, didn't he?_

Trying to keep the unfolding situation from Kanda, Ivy clenched her teeth instead of growling. Either way, the rabbit was dead.

_-He sent it to me._

_-Really? I knew he cared!_

_-That's not the fucking point, Rabbit._

_-Wow. You're even starting to sound like Yu-pon._

_-I'm not in the mood. Where the hell did you get it?_

_-I took it._

_-Why?_

_-To help. Trust me, you two need it._

_-Well, stop. We can handle this on our own._

_-Sure, sure. Anything else?_

_-If you plan on keeping this up I will wring (and possibly snap) your fucking neck._

While Ivy was returning her phone to her pocket, Lavi was left shuddering at her final comment. Ivy didn't get mad often, but when she did she was dead serious. Oh well, it was still an open season. Shaking off the foreboding feeling he had gotten from Ivy's message, Lavi typed up a new one.

_-Yu-pon, your girlfriend's texting threatening messages to me!_

After reading the freshly received message, Kanda twitched once, then smirked. On the other side of the table, Ivy gave him a questioning look. He quickly displayed the screen for her to see.

"Alright, what did you tell him?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing much…" A soft chuckle escaped her lips before she continued. "Just that if he keeps this up, I'll wring, and possibly snap, his fucking neck." The calm tone she used completely contrasted the malice of the words she was using. Kanda loved it.

"Perfect. Ten points, at least," he awarded.

Ivy smiled in appreciation. "Thanks. Now what are you going to tell him?"

"I think I have an idea…"

* * *

_-At this rate, she won't be the only one making threats._

Lavi sighed and abandoned his cell phone on a nearby table. Wonderful, now they were both mad at him.

It didn't take long for his optimistic side to kick in. At least they were mad at him together…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned, the first nine chapters of this story got a rewrite, and then I decided that was enough, otherwise I'd be rewriting every fic forever. I like to think the originals on these were decent enough, though there is the improvement that came as things went on. Hopefully the change in quality/style isn't too super jarring...


	11. 11. How to Get Revenge: Dodgeball

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

11\. How to Get Revenge: Dodgeball

* * *

Wednesday, Homeroom, 7:49 AM

Ah, the pain-in-the-ass time known as morning, which, as we know, Kanda hates. True, Wednesdays weren't as bad as Mondays, but a morning is a morning. And mornings equal one way-too-fucking-bright sun, one alarm clock that won't shut the hell up, one walk a few blocks down the street to get his all-black coffee just so he could function, and one trek to school that wasn't all bad until the fucking rabbit decided to show up, spouting his nonsense the remainder of the way. In other words: hell.

Though, this week had been pleasantly calm. For some reason or the other the rabbit hadn't bothered to show up at school for the past two days. _Not_ that Kanda cared. Personally, he hoped that the rabbit had died a horrible death. It was nice to actually finish a cup of coffee in silence for once.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Kanda inwardly groaned as he saw the familiar redhead upon entering his homeroom. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked. Oh, he definitely didn't care about this. Why had he even asked that question? It was more like giving the rabbit an invitation to go on one of his rants.

However, upon seeing the Japanese, Lavi yelped. "Please don't hurt me!" he shouted, burying his head under a text book. Yeah, that was great protection against a potentially murderous Kanda.

"…" Kanda ignored the rabbit, like he should have done in the first place, and sat down. Possibly, just possibly, ignoring him would keep things quiet for just a little bit longer.

Lavi's one green eye cautiously peeked out from under the book. "You're not doing anything," he stated in disbelief. So much for that plan.

"What for? I made no threats," Kanda deadpanned. He was _really_ not in the mood for the rabbit and his shit.

"So… You're not going to kill me?" Lavi warily asked, checking just to make sure.

"Not yet."

Lavi threw his arms into the air, letting out a loud cheer, leaving Kanda to wonder if the prior had heard the "yet." Not that it mattered, really. The rabbit may have escaped his fate for a few days, but he wasn't going to be able to hide forever.

This, my dear friends, was going to be good.

* * *

6th Period Gym, 12:05 PM

"No! Don't make me go out there!" Lavi was now shouting at the top of his lungs and clutching onto the door frame of the boy's locker room for his dear life. Surprisingly, this was not a typical scene, which brought about multiple stares from the other members of the gym class that were passing by. Poor souls.

"Why not?" Allen innocently asked. True, he was aware that his friend had taken a certain picture, but he hadn't been informed of the fact that said photo had made its way to our favorite couple.

"She'll kill me! It doesn't matter what we're doing, she'll kill me! We could be playing patty cake and she'd find a way!" Reality really is a deadly thing when it sets in.

"Rabbit, you're acting stupider than usual," Kanda stated. "You seriously can't tell me that you're afraid of a girl."

"Maybe…" Lavi squeaked.

"Pathetic." The Japanese then proceeded to relentlessly pull the redhead away from the door frame and into the gym.

"Yu-pon, you're heartless!" Lavi accused, crossing his arms and pouting just like a little kid.

"Honestly, Rabbit. What's the worst that can happen?" Kanda asked, but couldn't help but smirk.

"Dooooodgebaaaall!"

"'What's the worst that can happen?' 'What's the worst that can happen?' _That's_ the worst that can happen!" Lavi hysterically shouted, waving his arms in every which direction like the lunatic we all know he is.

"Rabbit, do me a fucking favor: Shut the hell up!" Kanda yelled, irritated. But then again, when wasn't he?

On the other side of the gym, Ivy was triumphantly cracking her knuckles, an evil smile spread across her face. "Oh, it's on, Rabbit, it's on!" she declared.

Lavi squeaked in a non-too-manly manner and hid behind Allen. "I am _so_ dead. Brit, when I die, you will find my will on my desk at home. I'd like you to know that you get most of my stuff."

"Lavi, aren't you overreacting?" the white-haired boy asked of his friend.

No, my friends, Lavi was not overreacting in the slightest, for here, at Black Order High, dodgeball is utterly brutal. It's an entire forty-five minute free-for-all with no limits and no outs. Essentially, your main goal was to stay alive. With this description, the term "death ball" may seem more apt, but that was the term you used when boredom struck and you went into a corner of the gym with Lenalee and a soccer ball. Damn, that girl could kick.

Of course, there was a simple beauty to the way that dodgeball was played here, and that was that…

"I get to plow the rabbit as many times as I want!" Ivy cheered, smiling at Lavi's vain attempts to hide behind as many people as possible.

The shrill sound of the whistle pierced the air, signaling for the massacre to begin. Ivy didn't waste any time in claiming a ball and launching it towards her target. The redhead doubled over in pain as the ball collided with his stomach and let out a weak "Ouch…"

"Lavi, look out!" Allen warned.

Lavi slowly looked up. "Oh, no."

Ivy's newest missile was quickly heading straight towards his head.

* * *

"Ow! Lenalee, that hurts!" Lavi whined. After the dodgeball match, he was definitely equipped with his fair share of scrapes and bruises, and had been hauled to the nurse's office by the passing by Lenalee that was now taking care him since the nurse was tending to some other mauled kid. I told you that it was brutal.

"Whatever reason Ivy decided to pummel you was probably your fault," Lenalee chided, taking on hr normal role as the voice of reason.

"Come on, Lenalee, you know that it was just a picture," Lavi insisted.

"Oh, did you show it to them?" the Chinese girl concernedly asked.

"I sent it to Yu-pon; he must have shown Ivy."

Lenalee heavily sighed. "And there en lies your problem."

There was a knock and the two looked to see Ivy standing up against the doorframe.

"The pain is horrible! I can't take it anymore! Please don't hurt me!" Lavi begged, going into fetal position.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Geez, Rabbit, knock it off. I'm only here because I want to tell you something important, so you better listen up." She paused to make sure that he was listening and then continued. "You see, that was me going easy on you. If you ever do anything like that again, it _will_ be worse. _Much_ worse." She smirked and headed towards the door. "Later!"

Lavi shuddered once and then turned back to Lenalee.

"Commodore, we have work to do."

"I knew you would say that, Colonel."


	12. 12. Brits Give Good Advice

**Exception**

By: Aviantei.

12\. Brits Give Good Advice

* * *

Thursday, 4:35 PM, the Park

"What do I do?" Ivy wondered out loud. The Japanese girl had wandered aimlessly to the park after school. Why? Because she was stressed. And when Ivy Minomasu becomes stressed, she wanders. Why was she stressed? Because now that Lavi had been punished, somehow things between her and Kanda had been different. Not bad different, but simply different nonetheless.

"We're back to the way we were," she began again, starting to pace. "We're friends, but it's different. Of course it's different, we…" She stopped as her face slightly flushed. Shaking off the feeling, she changed her topic.

"And Lavi. Kanda sees him as annoying as hell; I seriously doubt that that will ever change. I personally find him funny. Except for that whole picture thing…" A frown formed across her face. You try to avoid a topic and simply end up trapped again.

"Ugh, never mind. In all honesty, the reason that things are different is because we're closer. I suppose you could say that we're more… intimate…? No…" Ivy shook her head before pushing the brown bangs out of her face. As she slumped down onto a nearby bench, a hand ran through the short cut. Why didn't any of this seem right? Either that, or it was right and she was in stress-induced denial. Either way, her relationship with Kanda was quickly becoming one big fucking mess.

"But if it is right…" Ivy began again, staring out at the large park with its typical trees and fountain, a play ground at the far end. Despite it being December, the area was still crowded. "…how in the world am I supposed to let Kanda-san know that?" she posed.

"I personally see two things you can do," a voice behind commented, causing the Japanese girl to jump. She turned, brown eyes blinking upon seeing who the person was. It was none other than Allen, leaning casually against the back of the bench.

"A-Allen? What are you doing here?" Ivy cautiously asked, wondering exactly how much of her spiel the British boy had heard.

"Well, you want advice, right? I'll try my best," he answered with his usual smile.

Ivy let a small smile of her own form. "Alright, then. Thanks, Brit."

"You want to let Kanda know that you feel closer to him, right?" Allen enquired, walking to the other side of the bench and sitting down. The girl next to him nodded. "Have you ever thought about calling him by his first name?"

"Eh? His first name?" Ivy nervously started, her face quickly going red. "Have you seen what happens whenever the rabbit-"

The white-haired boy simply shook his head to cut her off. "Come now, Ivy there's two main differences here. For one"–he put up a finger to emphasize his point-"you're not Lavi. And two"-a second finger joined the first-"As far as I can tell from Lavi's ramblings, the stubborn jackass known as Yu Kanda actually _likes_ you."

"Yes, but…" Ivy quietly began, looking down.

"Honestly, you'll be fine," Allen insisted, giving an encouraging smile. "As for my other piece of advice, it's quite simple: Don't think about it so much."

This time, Ivy's calm slipped away. "How the hell do you expect me to do that?" she exclaimed. "I can't help but think about it- about _him_ the bastard! As a matter of fact, ever since the rabbit stuck his nose where it absolutely did and does _not_ belong, I can't _stop_ thinking about it." Finally calming down, Ivy didn't even care that she had just told that to Allen. Unlike Lavi, he wasn't likely to use that fact against her.

"I understand that, but what I'm saying is that by you thinking too much about it, you become oblivious to just how close the two of you are," the British calmly explained. "Stop worrying so much and maybe it'll help."

Slumping down in her seat on the bench, Ivy began to think it over. In comparison to Lavi's off-color remarks and wacky plans, Allen wasn't that bad for someone siphoning off relationship advice. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, Brit, you and Kanda-san-" She paused at the look she was receiving from Allen. "Do I have to?"

"If you can't say it to me, I can guarantee you that you won't be able to say it to him."

Ivy let out a small sigh. "All right, you and Yu-kun don't exactly get along. So why are you helping me out with him?" she posed.

Allen chuckled. "Just because I don't particularly like Kanda, doesn't mean I don't like you. Besides, he's easier to deal with when you're around." He smiled and Ivy laughed.

"You think so?"

"Most definitely."

"Thanks, Brit. You're surprisingly good at this. No wonder you got a date with Lena." Ivy stood up and stretched, reaching for the sky. "I'm gonna head home now. Thanks again, Brit. I'll see you tomorrow." She then wandered off, leaving a blushing Allen at the bench. Eventually, he broke out of his daze.

"Wait!" he shouted after the Japanese girl. "Who did you say I had a date with? What are you talking about?" It didn't take long for him to figure it out. He knew how the bastard worked, after all. Grey eyes narrowed.

"Lavi."

* * *

Friday, 2:42 PM, School

"Oi! Yu-pon!"

_Oh, what now?_

"Yu-pon! Yuuuuuu-poooon!"

_Why me?_

Kanda sighed, wondering why out of all the people in the world that could have decided to be his friend; it had to have been this idiot that had done it first. Now, he couldn't even leave his last period class- which, of mother fucking course, he had with the rabbit- without some sort of interruption from the obnoxious redhead. If Ivy was allowed to maul Lavi in a dodgeball match over a picture, then surely Kanda was allowed to punch him in the face for being annoying. At least once, right?

"Okay, Rabbit, what the hell do you want?" the taller male growled, giving Lavi a nasty glare that would have probably made some people we themselves. Too bad the idiot's skull was too thick to feel fear.

"Now that Ivy-chan's done with her assault, I can return to my mission!" said idiot proudly declared, giving a thumbs-up. Kanda swore he saw rabbit ears sprouting from the psycho's head.

"Did you just call her '-chan'?" the Japanese skeptically asked. Punching him was sounding a better idea by the second, particularly now.

Ignoring the question, Lavi enthusiastically continued his rant. "I know things are going good, but I think you should try to impress her. Now, what would work?" he mused, tapping his chin. Kanda was considering leaving before the redhead snapped his fingers. "I got it! Yu-pon, how do you feel about singing?"

Kanda blankly stared at the shorter male. Oh, why hadn't he just left when he had had the perfect opportunity?

"I knew you'd love it! Now, it's all about choosing the right song…"

"I have absolutely no desire to find out what _you_ consider the right song," Kanda deadpanned, irritated. He just wanted to go home and close himself off from the world- or at least most of it- for the next two days. Was that too much to ask? Wait, it was the rabbit. Of course it was too much to ask.

"She likes eighties stuff, right? You could always use my favorite!" Why was he so oblivious? " _If you want my-_ " Lavi's singing was cut off as Kanda clamped his hand over the other's mouth.

"Rabbit… Shut the fuck up." He enjoyed the rare silence before removing his hand.

Lavi's one green eye blinked. "Aw, Yu-pon's shy!" he exclaimed, positively beaming in a way that would rival the sun. Kanda didn't like that look at all. "What else could you sing?" The redhead paused to think before breaking out into an Italian Bistro.

Kanda returned to his desk, hoping that something would happen to stop the idiot before he was forced to kill him. Yu Kanda may have hated Lavi, but he being responsible for the rabbit's corpse on school property wasn't exactly on the top of his to-do list.

"Yu-kun, are you okay?"

The voice caused Kanda to blink, snapping him out of his self-educed daze. He hadn't really wanted to waste minutes on doing nothing, but Lavi had showed no signs of him leave, and he _had_ to ignore the rabbit _somehow_. Otherwise, he would go insane, which surprisingly hadn't happened after the years of their friendship.

"Yu-kun…?" The voice spoke again, and Kanda looked up at the person standing in front of his desk.

"Oh, hey, Ivy," he greeted, feeling slightly calmer. "What was it again?"

"I asked if you were okay," the female replied in a slightly concerned tone.

"Lavi's singing; what do you think?" he muttered, causing the Japanese girl to laugh. In that moment, it hit him. "Did you just-"

"Aw, Ivy-chan just called Yu-pon by his first name!" Lavi exclaimed, answering the unfinished question. "Atta girl!" He playfully punched Ivy's arm.

"Uh, I…" she started, looking down as a light shade of red passed over her face.

Kanda propped his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his hands. "Well, did you?" he questioned, smirking.

Ivy determinedly nodded. "Yes, I did."

Lavi let a satisfied smile cross his face. "Well, I can see where this is going. I'll talk to you two later!" He then went to leave the room, but stopped at the doorway. "Don't forget to practice safe sex," he commented with a smirk. Finally leaving, he resumed his earlier Bistro.

"Shall I give him the black eye, or do you want to do it?" Kanda asked, glaring at the spot where his friend had previously been standing.

"I was thinking something more painful, but we can deal with that later," Ivy commented. "Uh… You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind what?" the male replied, standing up from his seat and picking up the pile of books off of it.

"Me calling you by your first name."

"No, why?" Kanda expectantly raised an eyebrow.

Ivy sighed. "It's just…" She paused, biting the inside of her cheek. She had already had this conversation with Allen. She was _not_ Lavi, and Kanda liked her. That had already been proven. The only thing that was stopping her was herself.

"It's just…?" the taller of the two prompted. Damn that four inch difference.

"Oh, it's nothing," she recovered, dismissing the topic at the same time. "So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Homework." Like she hadn't seen that answer coming from a mile away.

"Hell of a way to spend a Friday night," she teased, tossing him a playful smile.

"I suppose. But it goes faster if there are three people at it."

Ivy blinked. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "You want me to come over?" she asked, disbelief touching the edges of her voice.

"Sure. Assuming you don't have any dates planned." Kanda finished the comment with a smirk. Ivy smiled in response. Yu Kanda, for some reason or another, was the only person she wouldn't automatically smack for a comment like that. "What do you say?"

"I dunno," she mused in a light tone. "Brit and I have been talking a lot lately."

"With your sarcastic nature, I'm choosing to take that as a 'yes.' Meet up out front in a few minutes?" he asked.

"Sure thing!" Ivy's smile grew bigger. "See you in a bit, Yu-kun!"

Not particularly caring about anything else, Ivy broke off into a straight forward run down the hallway that led to her locker. Upon reaching said locker, she didn't hesitate to get her bag together and sling it over her shoulder.

"So, how'd it go?" a familiar voice inquired.

Still smiling, Ivy closed her locker's door. "It went good Brit," she informed. "It went good." She then raced back down the hallway, leaving Allen leaning against the lockers, a smile on his face.


	13. 13. SSGTIK: Holiday Plotting

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

13\. SSGTIK: Holiday Planning

* * *

Saturday, Lavi's Garage, 12:07 PM

Allen sunk into the couch inside Lavi's garage, wondering why he was even there in the first place. Yeah, the garage wasn't exactly the most refined place in the world. Among the furniture occupying the space were the said couch, a few musty arm chairs, and a normally off-balance pool table. All of these weren't in prime condition, and you had to wonder exactly where Lavi had gotten them. Allen had always held the suspicion that they had mysteriously disappeared from their previous owners before heading on their way to the dumpster, no matter how seemingly sincerely Lavi had vouched that all had been obtained by the fair transaction of money, and at a good price, too. Allen didn't even want to conceive the possibility of Lavi having connections on the Black Market.

Other than the possibly suspiciously acquired furniture, the garage contained numerous boxes and bags from practically every restaurant in town, mainly those that sold pizza and Chinese take-out. Thankfully, all of these had been cleared out of their contents, so there weren't any mice. Of course, if you were someone like Lavi, having a mouse would be considered "cool," and the poor creature would most likely then be recruited as either a pet or a mascot.

So, if this garage is a seemingly miserable place, complete with a funny smell that seems familiar, but you just can't place it, and the couch he has sitting on sub-par, then why was our Brit even there in the first place? This question can be simply answered via flash back.

* * *

Friday, Black Order High, 1:32 PM

Allen had been going between classes and was grateful that his next period was a study hall. Midterms were the next week, and you could feel the deadline approaching, mainly due to the fact that the teachers weren't cutting any slack. Well, maybe Komui was, but that was only because Lenalee happened to be in that class. Not that it bothered Allen in the slightest. The partial leniency was well appreciated.

Ah, yes, Lenalee. That was a newly added and unexpected part of his stress level. After all, from what Ivy had seemingly alluded to the previous afternoon, he had no choice but to theorize that Lavi had happened to say something stupid. Not that a fact like that was surprising, but this time it concerned Allen. And Lenalee. On a _date_. In fact, the Brit was experiencing one of his few vengeful streaks, and if he didn't receive a good explanation from Lavi as to _why_ such a thing had been suggested in the first place, he would be more than happy to help Ivy in her next tirade against the redhead.

"BRIIIIIIT!"

Allen looked up at the sound of his nickname to see exactly what he had been suspecting: the only person who would abandon all common sense (presuming this individual even had any in the first place) and shout it at the top of his lungs across a hallway. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Lavi.

_Speak of the devil._

The rabbit had now broken out into an unrelenting run, somehow managing to keep up his speed while dodging between the large numbers of students currently accumulated in the hall.

"Hi-Brit-here-you-go-bye!"

Somehow, Lavi had let out the sentence in one breath, shoved a piece of paper into Allen's arms, nearly toppling the stack of books he was carrying, and kept his run up to race further down the hall with the same reckless abandon. Allen fumbled, wondering what the hell had just happened, and tried to regain his balance so he could make it to his class on time. When he did arrive, the Brit sat his belongings on a desk and picked up the paper that Lavi had forced upon him. Heaving a heavy sigh, he unfolded it. This is what he found:

**ATTENTION ALL SSGTIK MEMBERS:**

**A MEETING WILL BE HELD TOMORROW AT NOON IN SSGTIK PRESIDENT LAVI'S GARAGE. FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED.**

* * *

Now sitting in said garage, Allen crumpled up the flyer and added it to one of the preexisting piles of trash on the ground. From what I've told you, it really couldn't hurt.

"Allen, I know the place is already the mess, but you don't need to make it worse. Who knows when Lavi will decide to clean this place again?" Lenalee commented from one of the chairs.

"Yeah, and who knows when he'll decide to show up?" Allen grudgingly muttered. "I mean, who invites people to their house and then is _late_?" The white-haired boy wasn't even sure why he had come at all. Besides, it was obvious that he could accomplish more in one simple conversation than Lavi could in all his plans combined. That and he still had to study for his midterms.

_BAM!_

The side door that connected the house to the garage flew open and Lavi stood there, holding pizza boxes with unnecessary flourish.

"Incoming! Cover up anything you don't want seen!" A typical comment from Lavi. Allen had heard a million of then over the years since he had moved here and knew they didn't mean anything. So why did this seem different?

"Okay, gang, pizza all around!" Lavi declared. "Two larges with everything for Allen, a mall pepperoni for Lenalee, and one medium sausage, black olive, and cheddar cheese for me!" After distributing the boxes, he hopped up onto the pool table and pounded his fist against it, the movement of the table apparently not bothering him in the slightest. "I now call this meeting of the SSGTIK to order!"

"So, what exactly is this meeting for?" Lenalee asked before taking a bite out of her first slice of pizza.

"I'm glad you asked Secretary Lee." Lavi was having way too much fun with this, no joke. "As we all well know, winter break is starting soon and we have two very important events within that time."

"Christmas and New Years?" Allen questioned after swallowing the final remnants of his pizza.

"Very good, Vice President Walker. If we fully utilize these two events, the SSGTIK will be ever closer to their ultimate goal."

"So what are we gonna do?"

Lavi flashed a devilish grim that obviously meant trouble. "Easy. We're going to give Yu-pon _exactly_ what he wants for Christmas."

After hours of extensive and highly detailed planning, when Allen finally made it home and collapsed on his bed, he decided that if he failed an exam and Cross showed up, the only thing that would keep him from killing Lavi would be the fact that he had paid for the pizza.


	14. 14. "All I want is…"

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

14\. "All I want is…"

* * *

Ivy slowly woke up from a rare full night's sleep, actually feeling refreshed for once. Weekends and vacation days really were the best times to catch some Z's, and having those kept her from only being able to properly function with the excessive use of coffee. She had the suspicion that Kanda was annoyed because he started of his mornings with the stuff. Ivy's eyes trailed over to the alarm clock that had mostly been rendered useless over the past few days, except to view the time, which she was doing now. Ah, the crack of noon, definitely the best time to wake up, no doubt.

Ivy let out a yawn and stretched her arms above her head before actually leaving the bed to get dressed. Figuring that she'd be spending the majority of the day lounging around, as she had spent the past parts of her vacation, the Japanese girl simply slipped into a pair of sweatpants and along sleeved t-shirt. Screw fashion, no matter _what_ Lenalee thought, comfort was definitely the priority.

While Ivy went to leave the apartment's bedroom and head for the kitchen, she looked back to the clock, this time to check the date. And that made her stop cold.

"Shit!" she whispered.

December 25th. Was that really the date? Ivy couldn't believe it. Surely break had only been going on for just a few days, and not nearly an entire week. But when she thought it through, the numbers added up.

"Shit!" she repeated, this time louder.

Dismissing her quest for breakfast, Ivy began to shift through the mess that had accumulated on the floor, all the while trying to remember where she had put her cell phone. Now let me make it clear that Ivy is mostly a neat person. However, when she has multiple idle hours at her disposal, the books, notebooks, papers, CDs, and other miscellaneous items that are normally organized spill out of their respective places and afterwards take up residence on the ground.

After about a minute of digging through said mess, Ivy found her phone exactly where she had left it a week ago: plugged into the wall, charging, and turned off so she wouldn't have to deal with the rest of the world. She unceremoniously tore it away from the wall, sat down on her bed, flipped the device open, and shoved down the power button.

Ivy knew that she needed to talk to Kanda soon. It had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn't talked to him, fuck the rest of the world, for a week. It was simply the fact that it was Christmas and she wanted to see him.

The phone beeped to life and Ivy was about to press one for her speed dial when it hit her.

"Fuck." The cuss word dropped out of her mouth with ease.

Again, Ivy reminded herself that it was _Christmas_. And she hadn't gotten him a damn thing.

In fact, she hadn't gotten a thing for _any_ of her friends. Not that the rest really mattered at the moment. Then again, Kanda probably didn't even _want_ anything, let alone expect it. But for some reason, it still felt like she should.

At that moment, the phone rang, causing Ivy to jump and lose her train of thought. She nervously waited for the caller ID to kick in, surprisingly praying to whatever god or gods there might be that it _wasn't_ Kanda. She may have needed to talk to him, but not right now. She wouldn't be able to take it at the moment.

When the number finally appeared after what seemed like an eternity, Ivy sighed in relief and calmly answered.

"Hey, Lenalee."

"Hey, Ivy!" the Chinese girl cheerily replied on the other end. "Lavi's throwing a Christmas party at his place-"

"A Christmas party," Ivy dully and skeptically stated in a deadpan tone, even though it was a rather predictable action for Lavi. Maybe if she had stopped and taken her nose out of a book for a few moments, she would have seen it coming.

"Yeah, we would've told you sooner, but your phone was off. Anyway, we were decorating and we could use the help." Ivy took "we" to mean Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen. There was no way they could have convinced Kanda to help with such a thing. "You don't mind, do you?" If Ivy had been talking to Lenalee in person, the latter would have put on a pleading expression, complete with sparkly eyes that made her seem chibi. The Japanese had seen the Chinese employ it many times before.

"Of course not," Ivy automatically answered. You never said 'no' to Lenalee, especially when she asked like _that_ , not even if you were Kanda. Horrible things would happen if you did, mostly by Komui's actions.

"Thanks a bunch!" Lenalee practically gushed. "Do you want one of us to come and get you?"

"Nah, I'll drive myself."

"Be careful, it looks like it's flurrying out there."

Ivy ventured over to the window and pulled open the curtains to see that her friend's words were true. "Don't worry, I'll make a slushy. You guys want some?"

Lenalee giggled. "See you soon."

"See ya."

* * *

Anyone else would have probably wondered exactly _why_ it was going to take nearly seven hours to set up for a mere party. However, Ivy knew better and had been able to concentrate her efforts on the road during the drive over, which was probably for the best, and when she finally walked into Lavi's house, surprise wasn't present in the slightest. The entire first room was filled with piles upon piles of books, all varying in terms of height and level of discord. If you were able to find a clear spot to look past them all with, a rare discovery, you would have been able to see that the walls were made of bookshelves packed to the brim, thus why those books on the floor were in their present location. However, for the first time since Ivy had moved here, the first section of the floor appeared to be clear, and the absent books were now stacked up against the wall.

Why were there so many books here in the first place? Lavi's guardian, Bookman, or, if you were Lavi, 'Gramps' or 'Old Panda,' depending on his mood, was an avid collector of books and was known for going out on long trips to search for new pieces to add to his collection, which he was doing now, sending a large amount home every other week via FedEx or some other poor delivery service. The UPS man practically refused to make deliveries to the place anymore and no one could blame him. Lavi himself, while mainly acting like an idiot, was actually quite an intellectual and enjoyed reading, would then read all of the newly acquired books, and then toss them into their current disorganized state.

"Oi! Ivy-chan! You're here!"

The rabbit's voice drifted over to where Ivy was standing, and she could see him perched at the top of a tall ladder, adding a few more books onto those already lined up against the wall. Below him, Allen was climbing down said ladder, supposedly to collect more books from Lenalee. Lavi simply jumped off the ladder, complete with mid-air summersault, and surprisingly landed on his feet. Ivy guessed all his bones were still intact since she hadn't heard anything snap and had to admit she felt moderately disappointed.

"Good thing, too," Lavi continued, "now this can go a lot faster."

"Lavi, never do that again!" Allen told off his friend in a panicked tone as he reached the ground. "You nearly took my head off!"

"Ah, but I didn't, did I?" the redhead said in a tone like a mother scolding their child, wagging his finger in a similar manner. "That should be what matters." Allen rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and Lenalee giggled.

"Um, we're not throwing the party in here, are we?" Ivy questioned, walking up to her friends.

"Nope, it's gonna be in the next room," Lenalee informed. "However, we thought it would be nice if people could actually just walk in, minus all the strategic maneuvers." You could tell she was politely holding back the part about sustaining injuries.

"Alright then!" Lavi enthusiastically declared, ignoring the obvious prodding at his house keeping skills. "I'll head back up top, Brit, you bring that pile to me, and Ivy-chan, you can help Lenalee with collecting books and carrying them over. Let's make this quick so we can move on to the fun stuff!" With that, the redhead proceeded to clamor up the ladder with predictable reckless abandon.

Lenalee sighed. "Well, that's Lavi for you," she remarked. "Let's head over that way, alright?" The Chinese girl practically skipped off.

Ivy allowed herself to let out a laugh. "And that's Lenalee for you. Well, we better get started, Brit."

"He's planning something stupid, you know," Allen warned.

"Cheh. Of course he is." And not even feeling remotely worried, Ivy followed the path Lenalee had carved into the sea of books.

* * *

7:09 PM

Kanda was going to fucking kill the rabbit. Why? Because, somehow, Lavi had dragged him into coming to a Christmas party. And not just _any_ Christmas party, oh no. It was the _rabbit's_ Christmas party, which could only mean that Lavi was up to something stupid, and the night wasn't going to end well. _Especially_ for the rabbit if Kanda got a hold of him.

So, how exactly did Lavi get Kanda to show up? Allow me to take you on another strange journey to the magical world of flashbacks.

* * *

"How the fuck did you get into my house?"

That was the first thing Kanda asked as Lavi entered his room. He also wanted to know why the stupid rabbit had came in the first place, not to mention completely ignore the very blatant sign hanging of the door that read " **NO** " in large, bold, capitol letters. Surely the brain capacity to understand it was _somewhere_ in that thick skull.

"With my super secret ninja skills!" the redhead declared, chopping his hand through the air, probably reducing a stack of imaginary cinderblocks to dust. Kanda assumed that by 'ninja skills,' the rabbit meant hiking the spare key out of the stupid ceramic frog Tiedoll had placed in the garden. He was going to have to relocate that thing to a safer location, possibly the roof. Kanda took great pleasure as he imagined Lavi falling from three stories up, screaming his lungs out.

"Why the hell are you here?" Kanda growled. He wanted to get back to spending his Christmas _alone_. Well, mostly alone, if Ivy would just turn on her damn phone…

"I'm having a Christmas p-"

" _No,_ " Kanda deadpanned, not even allowing the rabbit to finish his sentence. No way in _hell_ was he going to another party where Lavi was, especially not after what had happened _last_ time. Those were some _seriously_ bad memories and Kanda could hardly even _look_ at a noisemaker again, let alone touch one. Not that he would touch one anyway, unless using one to cause physical pain; damn, those things were annoying.

"But, Yu-pon, you _have_ to come!" Lavi combined his whine with a pout. He was definitely a five-year-old at heart.

"Give me _one_ good reason." Kanda was getting ready to chunk the rabbit out the window. The Japanese had, never has, never will have, absolutely no patience for this shit.

"Ivy-chan," Lavi triumphantly stated, a victorious smile appearing on his face.

"Do you mean that as in 'she's already there and Lenalee's making sure she won't leave,' or as in 'Lenalee's coercing her to come now and there's no way she'll refuse'?" Kanda didn't like how this situation was playing out.

"Hmm…" The shorter of the two paused for dramatic effect. "The first one."

_Fuck._

Reluctantly, and _way_ against his better judgment, Kanda snagged his coat of a chair and made his way to Lavi's car.

* * *

Now here we are with Kanda, at a party he hates. Well, he hates all parties, but that's not the point. Not only was the room crowded with people, which is bad enough as it is, some of those people were fan girls, and we all know the horrors of that. Luckily for the male, none of them noticed him since they were all focusing on dancing to the music blaring over a set of speakers that looked like Lavi had dragged them out of the deepest corners of his basement. Forget the fan girls and Lavi's garage; that place was filled with more horrors then both of them combined.

Now, Kanda did like his music blaring, but that was only if it was something _decent_ , i.e. rock or metal, as well as the occasional alternate tune. Hell, he would even settle for something from the 80's or 90's if he was in the right mood. But _nothing_ , I repeat, abso-fucking-lutely _nothing_ , would _ever_ make Kanda like what his school considered to be "popular" music. Not with all the kooky pop noise and the retards that created rap. Fuck no, that was the kind of shit that made him want to repeatedly stab at his ears with a few dull pencils. So, of _course_ that was exactly what was playing right now.

The music changed rhythms. Hearing the opening bars to "Can't Touch Me," Kanda shuddered once and retreated to a corner of the room.

There was absolutely no way the rabbit was making it to the New Year.

Lavi watched as Kanda skulked into a corner, not even feeling remotely worried for his plan.

"Tsk, tsk, Yu-pon," he commented to himself, "you are _so_ predictable."

Then he ran to the middle of the dance floor, a shit-eating grin on his face, completely psyched up about the back flip he was going to perform. This _was_ his song, after all.

Ivy had been partially thrown off when she noticed Kanda standing in a corner. No, it wasn't that he was in a corner; that was just what Kanda did at events like these. It was that he was even here in the first place. She vaguely wondered what stupid thing Lavi had said to get him here. Nevertheless, she was glad for his presence.

"Hey, Yu-kun," Ivy greeted, approaching the male and settling herself against the wall perpendicular to the one he was leaning on.

"Hey, Ivy," Kanda grumbled, sounding annoyed, even though Ivy could tell that he was trying. Hey, at least it was a start.

"How're you doing?"

"What do you think?"

"Ah, yes," Ivy mused, "it's a party; it's the rabbit's; and they keep playing nothing but all the shit you can't fucking stand." The female finished her analysis with a laugh. "Look on the bright side, Yu-kun: at least you've got me."

Kanda smirked. "That's right," he remarked, "you're immune to the stuff. I'd say that's worth about three points."

"Yu-kun, you make it sound like a disease!" Ivy scolded, laughing. "Even so, I think I deserve more if it's that horrible, but I'll give you two points cause I'm nice." She paused, remembering the earlier issue. Her voice became quieter. "Oh, yeah, I wanna apologize: I completely forgot about getting you something for Christmas."

"Cheh, don't worry about it." The male easily shoved away the problem. "I didn't get you a thing, either. So, sorry, I suppose."

Ivy smiled, feeling relieved. "Right, even," she agreed. "Besides, all I want is…" Her voice faded out once more and she wondered whether or not to finish that sentence. Oh, what the fuck, she had nothing to lose.

"All I want is-!"

"Wow, Ivy-chan, Yu-pon! You two lucked out!" Lavi seemed to appear out of nowhere, spouting out his usual nonsense. On top of that, he seemed drunk, almost like when he had attempted to spike the punch, except this time it had actually worked.

Ivy sighed, already exasperated with whatever the rabbit was planning. "What the hell are you talking about, Lavi?" she shouted.

"Look up."

It was a simple command, but for some reason, those two words sounded like a death sentence. Knowing that she would probably regret it, Ivy did as she was told. Upon seeing what her friend meant, she groaned.

"You know what mistletoe means!" the redhead practically sang, a Cheshire Cat-eske grin spreading across his face. Yeah, that spiked punch suspicion was _definitely_ rising.

"Goddammit, Lavi, go fu-" Ivy was unable to finish the insult due to Kanda's lips pressing against her own. Her heart rate automatically sped up.

"Yu-kun…?"

Somehow, Lavi's smile was able to grow even wider. " _Ivy-chan and Yu-pon, sitting in a tree-!_ " he happily sang.

Ivy's voice turned into a growl. "Leave." That one word, coupled with her glare, which plainly said "I _will_ kill you in a slow, painful, horrific, gruesome manner," automatically made Lavi freeze. Then, like the rabbit he was, he ran. "Stupid rabbit," Ivy grumbled, her face now turning a light shade of red.

"Sorry about that." Kanda's voice made Ivy focus. Yu Kanda apologizing? That was something you didn't hear every day, especially not twice.

"Eh? Oh, right. It's fine. I get it. It's the only way he would have left us alone," she nervously rambled. As expected in situations like these, the next stage was an awkward silence.

"So… You were saying earlier?" Kanda eventually prompted, trying to resume conversation.

"Oh. That." The color on the girl's face slightly deepened. "It's nothing."

"Feh," the male skeptically remarked.

"But, um, Yu-kun, are you doing anything for New Year's?" Ivy softly questioned.

"Hn. I haven't thought about it." Kanda paused momentarily. "But… If you want to come over… you're welcome to it."

Ivy mentally giggled. Was it just her or did Kanda actually seem embarrassed? She could have sworn the male was blushing. Yet another first. "I'd love to," she accepted, smiling. Surprisingly, Kanda smiled back. If Lavi hadn't of left, he would've dubbed it a Christmas miracle if he'd stuck around.

It seemed that the rabbit was going to make it to the New Year after all. Now, whether he would survive that… Well, that was an issue that would later take on some debate.


	15. 15. Moments of Peace

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

15\. Moments of Peace

* * *

The apocalypse was surely happening. And no, this isn't that "end of the year" hype or anything. But the apocalypse was still going on, and that was for one very simple reason: It was New Year's Eve.

Let me rephrase that. It was New Year's Eve.

And Lavi was behaving himself.

No joke, everyone's favorite (?) red-headed rabbit had decided to take a day off from his usual SSGTIK related antics, and just chill out on a couch with pop, snacks, and a few good buddies, i.e., Allen and Lenalee. And why weren't Ivy and Kanda involved in this lovely get-together? A few reasons actually.

A: Lavi had used his super ninja skills to stick around after supposedly being scared off on Christmas and knew the couple was getting together and he didn't want to screw it up when the universe was working just the way he wanted it to.

B: Ivy had turned her phone back off and didn't even seem to be checking her voicemail.

C: Kanda was blatantly ignoring Lavi's calls, and _his_ voicemail was equipped with a particularly nasty and detailed message about how he would castrate anybody who even attempted to infiltrate his house again, with an extra beating if that infiltration occurred before school started up again since he was in such a "giving mood."

D: Lavi enjoys confusing the hell out of the universe and giving Kanda a false sense of security.

And so our nighttime adventure begins.

As said, Lavi was chilling out on a couch with his fellow conspirators, sans all the conspiring. Of course there wasn't any conspiring, because this wasn't the Couch of Horrors in Lavi's garage. This was a much nicer, leather couch that was very big, very squishy and located in Lavi's living room. And as you should know, there is no conspiring on any other couch than the one in Lavi's garage. At least, that's what Lavi decided about ten seconds after sitting down.

But anyway.

The coffee table was a nice one, too, also large, with a glass top, and positively overloaded with snacks. Additionally, if one were to go into the kitchen, they would find just as much food, along with various caffeinated, yet non-alcoholic drinks. Because Lavi knows his Brit. And his Brit likes to eat.

So Allen was stuffing his face with as much food as he could cram into his mouth at once, Lenalee was sipping at a neon green plastic cup filled with fizzy orange liquid, and Lavi was leaning back on his couch, hands behind head, smirk on his face, and brightly colored party hat strapped to his head as the trio stared down the New Year's broadcast showing on the high-definition, wide-screen television.

And only 10 minutes until midnight, too.

In the wonderful House of Kanda, there are actually 7 living rooms, the smallest being the one adjoined to Kanda's bedroom, located on the second floor. It has a similar paint scheme to said teen's room, and has two perpendicular navy blue couches facing a small TV set, with a black trunk serving as a table.

Light coming from the television screen, assisted by a small lamp turned on in the background, illuminated the trunk top. On it sat one glass halfway filled with water, a dark blue mug that had once contained multiple servings of coffee (black, of course), a half-eaten bag of Baked Lay's, and the television remote. On the couch parallel to the trunk sat Ivy and Kanda, watching the same broadcast as their friends on the other side of town.

In a sense, it was awkward, because after their unexpected kiss on the previous holiday, the couple didn't know exactly how to treat each other. Actually, it was more of an "Ivy being too shy and Kanda not having any reason to act without prompting by the Rabbit" situation. See folks? Lavi is actually _useful_. But being more focused, this resulted in the two sitting on adjacent couch cushions without touching each other or even saying much. Yes, if only Lavi could see this now… How he would cry over his hopeful wishes for progress going unfulfilled.

Now if you thought I was going to tell you that during his previous break-in, Lavi had oh-so cleverly placed cameras in our wonderful Kanda's house and was actually watching at this very moment, you can stop right there. Because at the point of the break in, he thought he was going to have to drag Ivy and Kanda to his house to get anything to happen. And he just doesn't plan that far ahead. Lavi is more of a "go with the flow" kind of man.

Now we should stop discussing this. Don't want to give him any ideas.

"Three minutes to midnight! _Three minutes to midnight!_ " Lavi excitedly chanted, bouncing up and down on the couch, making both Allen and Lenalee duck in cover. Because we all know that Lavi is a little kid at heart. And right now that little kid just happened to be coming out like this was its first New Year's ever, and it was finally allowed to stay up at night.

"Man, the year went by so fast," Lenalee wistfully remarked after the redhead sat back down. On the TV, the announcer shouted into his microphone the minutes left to the crowd gathered in the plaza of some big city. They all elatedly cheered as prompted, and the announcer went to recheck the countdown.

"I'll say," Allen agreed. Polite as always, the Brit left out that a good amount of the year had been spent on Lavi's plans. He didn't even want to think about what all was coming next.

"You two make it sound like the world's ending!" Lavi exclaimed, draping his arms around his friends' shoulders. "We still have the rest of the school year left! And besides, I've been cooking up some plans that none of us will ever forget!" The rabbit seemed totally oblivious to Allen as he shuddered at the thought. "Oh! Oh! The countdown's starting! The countdown's starting!" The redhead jumped back up to stand on the couch and pumped his fist into the air.

" _Five!"_

Lenalee laughed at her friend's antics and joined him in calling out the numbers. So did Allen.

" _Four! Three! Two! ONE!"_

* * *

"Happy New Year…" Ivy muttered under her breath as Kanda said nothing. The Japanese male simply continued staring at the television. The announcer continued shouting out that it was a New Year, building up hype about what may happen. Throughout his spiel, the camera panned across the crowd, pausing on couples kissing each other, and giving a prolonged stop as a man proposed to his girlfriend.

Kanda reached for the remote and slammed down as much as one could on the power button. The set blinked out as Kanda resumed his position on the couch, the images on the screen nagging in the back of his brain.

But what did he have to lose?

_What the hell…_

"Hey, Ivy," he said, causing the girl to turn her head towards him with a slight "Hm?" Kanda smirked and kissed her, thoroughly enjoying himself without the otherwise present rabbit to interrupt or instigate afterwards. When he was done, Ivy stared back up at him, her blush barely visible in the dim light.

"Yu Kanda, was that your way of asking me out?" she asked, a slight smirk of her own forming. Of course, the smirk ended up turning into a grin, because she was so damn happy at the moment.

"What do you want it to mean?"

Ivy's grin grew even wider. "I think that was you asking me out."

"Ten points for reading my mind. So what's your answer?" Kanda felt odd acting like this, especially without the Rabbit to encourage it, but at least he was getting what he wanted. At least, he hoped he was getting what he wanted.

"What do you want it to be?" Ivy asked in response, still grinning, almost feeling drunk off her elated mood.

"‘Fuck yes,'" Kanda mumbled before going to kiss her again.

* * *

"All right! Who wants some celebratory drinks?" Lavi happily asked of his two friends. Both provided responses in the affirmative, so Lavi gathered the plastic cups and headed into the kitchen. Halfway throughout refilling the glasses with bubbling liquid, his phone vibrated in his pocket. With the finesse of a showy bartender even though no one could see him (just cause he is _that_ cool), Lavi topped off Allen's drink, and spun the cap back onto the bottle before digging his hand into his pocket to retrieve the device.

"Hello, you've reached the super-awesome Lavi. Wazzup?"

" _Nii-chan!"_ The voice was youthful, and excited, and feminine, and of the devil. Lavi froze in the middle of his kitchen.

"L… Lil' Sis…?" he fearfully asked, not even wanting to think about the girl on the other end. Because he could see her now, grinning happily and ready to send her brother through hell in a single phone call with zero effort.

" _Nii-chan, it is you! Guess what? I'm coming ho—!"_

Lavi hadn't bothered with ending the call. He hadn't bothered with powering down his phone safely. Because in his desperation to kill the connection and avoid hearing from _that girl_ again at all costs, Lavi had simply ripped the battery from the back of the phone and shoved it into the nearby silverware drawer, which he promptly slammed shut with a loud crash and much jangling of the items inside.

With a trembling hand, Lavi tried to resume pouring drinks like the phone call had never happened, only to have her last cut-off sentence replay in his head, except in a completed form. _"I'm coming home,"_ she had said.

It really _was_ the end of the world.

* * *

On the other side of the city, on a navy blue couch, unaware of her friend's peril, Ivy slept soundly on Kanda's shoulder.

After a few minutes of watching, he set out to join her.


	16. 16. Death in Snowy Combat!

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

16\. Death in Snowy Combat!

* * *

“Nii—chan—you—bastard—wake— _up!_ ”

Each word of that particular morning greeting had been accompanied by a smack of a pillow to Lavi’s person, the last being a particularly forceful blow to his head. The voice, despite its commanding and insulting intentions, was still in sweet female tones, letting our redhead know that when he had seen his sister make her way into the house a few days ago, he unfortunately had not been dreaming. Not wanting to risk removing his head from the weak protections of his poorly thought out blanket shield, Lavi trusted his instincts and shot a hand to the night stand. Fortunately, his ninja skills procured his cell phone.

“But, Sis,” he whined, voice muffled due to his mouth being halfway submersed in pillow, “it’s only ten on a snow day. See, Brit even sent me a reminder text so I wouldn’t show up.” Lavi sat up to show the message to his sister, grinning at the memory from the previous year of walking into the school, realizing he was alone, then proceeding to cause minimal, mostly legal chaos. He hadn’t gotten in trouble, but it was probably the reason the school had afterwards improved their security systems.

His sister busied himself with the text on the mobile’s screen, and Lavi decided to really _look_ at her since all he had been doing was avoiding her with the impeccable strategy of stubbornly refusing to leave his room. She hadn’t really changed much, except for maybe a few inches gained in the height department and a few other things that one didn’t point out on their own sister, but that was expected after a few years. Her hair was cut to a similar length as Ivy’s, just a little past the chin, but was a seemingly impossible shade of red-orange more often reserved for cartoon characters, and, not too far off, Lavi. They even shared the same bright emerald eyes, complete with some spark that made you feel like trouble wasn’t too far away; the pair that belonged to the younger sibling focusing back on their initial target after finishing the provided message.

No one would doubt that Ari Bookman was Lavi’s sister.

She turned around, making Lavi think she just might go away, but instead his sister’s slim frame was soon sprawled across his legs. She had decided to simply fall backwards onto the bed and her brother (much to his discomfort, though he contained the wince), arms thrown over the other side of the mattress. Her ponytail stuck out off the right side of her head, different segments going off in various curled directions, resembling a sideways version of the top of a palm tree.

“Nii-chan, I’m just _bored_ ,” Ari whined. “I wanna play outside together. Like when we were kids.” Lavi could remember that. Back then, she hadn’t been as violent… Well, maybe she had, but it hadn’t been on purpose (at least he hoped so). And while the whole thing sounded like fun, he didn’t trust his sister with a near unlimited snow supply around him alone. Sure, it would start with snowmen and the most kick-ass snow structure ever, but that would turn into a fort from which he would be bombarded from. And while it would be an amusing battle for a while, he didn’t think he could face that alone.

His hand tightened around his phone. _Maybe…_

“You know, Sis, I think I’m up to that.”

* * *

Once again, not for the first and absolutely not the last time in his life, Kanda wasn’t a particularly happy individual. It had been a peaceful morning, and all had seemed well, especially since school had been cancelled. It wasn’t the dislike of his compulsory education that made this a good thing, but the fact that he wouldn’t have to deal with a certain disliked rabbit, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. He had even been considering inviting Ivy over, when his cell phone had rung. And while it was the very person he wanted to talk to, she had different plans.

He had to hand it to Lavi, though; the idiot certainly knew what he was doing. Because there was no way one redhead alone could have convinced him to leave his house for any form of stupidity. But if said redhead happened to go through a certain girl that just so happened to be Kanda’s girlfriend…

That was how you ended up with situations like this: Kanda, Ivy, Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, and someone else no one there had expected to see all gathered around in the park, which was otherwise abandoned aside from the immense amounts of snow they had to wade through in order to get there.

“I’m sorry,” Ivy said, being the first to break the silence, her breath immediately turning to fog and disappearing just as quickly in the winter air, “but I’m afraid I don’t know you.” She was clearly addressing the sixth person. She was smiling, despite the fact that she was unaccustomed to their presence and the frigid temperature. Kanda didn’t get how she could do it. “I’m Ivy Minomasu. And you are?”

“Ari Bookman.” A green mitten was extended forward. “Nice to meet you.”

Ivy blinked before shaking the other girl’s hand to shake. “‘Bookman’? You’re Lavi’s sister?” Sure, the physical resemblance was there, but the introduction had been so different from the once she had received from the elder Bookman sibling during the previous year, it just didn’t seem right. He had been completely in her face, bustling with supposed “good vibes” and “friendship ooze.” Compared to that, Ari almost seemed normal.

Lavi sighed, letting the warm air gather in his bright orange scarf as opposed to losing any heat. Ivy had no idea how wrong she was…

“Yup, I am,” Ari confirmed. “I was studying abroad in France the past year and a half, but it lost its fun. Besides, why would I miss Nii-chan’s senior year? What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t involve myself in one of the most important family events ever?” When she grinned, Ivy started to see the other form of resemblance.

“You’d be the best sister ever…” Lavi muttered under his breath, but Ari obviously didn’t hear since she was now addressing Kanda.

“And Kanda-san, congratulations. It’s nice to know you finally found yourself a girlfriend.”

The entire group froze (if you’ll excuse the horrible choice of analogy given the circumstances) at the sentence, wondering just what would happen next. Sure, Kanda had more patience for Ari than her brother, but it was still a touchy subject to get into. But after a minute of nothing happening at all, the guarded expressions turned into blank stares and a red coloring crept onto Ivy’s cheeks that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold.

“Yu-pon’s not denying it…” Lavi whispered. Lenalee and Allen could only stand in stunned silence. “ _Yu-pon’s not dying it!!_ ” The shout was accompanied by the rabbit throwing his hands up into the air in celebration. “Let the world know that Yu Kanda finally pulled that stick out of his ass that’s been there for all eternity and finally got himself a girlfriend! Oh my god, Yu-pon, I’m so fucking happy for you!”

“Touch me, you die.”

For once, Lavi heeded the warning and decided to move on to a safer target: that being said girlfriend he was celebrating. “And where would we be without the magnificent Ivy-chan? You, my most incredible young lady, have performed a feat for the ages.” He slung his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “How does it feel?”

“Nii-chan, knock it off; the poor girl doesn’t need that you. Besides, can write it down in your diary later,” Ari interrupted.

“Sis, we’ve talked about this!” Lavi protested in a whine. “It’s not a diary, it’s a _journ_ —!”

“Lavi,” his sister cut off once again, “you can’t deny it. It says ‘Diary’ on the cover in bold letters.” The statement was accompanied by a dismissive gesture of green. “But, man, I make one comment and an entire performance explodes.” She sighed before smiling again.” But anyway, Allen, it’s so great to see you again! How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay,” the Brit in question answered, smiling back. He didn’t particularly feel like bringing up any of Lavi’s antics, just in case of Ari actually wanting to be involved. Resisting one Bookman’s insistence was hard enough; resisting the combined efforts of two was practically impossible. “I assume your trip to France was good?”

“Yea, it was nice, but I like it better here. Oh, hello, Lenalee.”

“Hello, Ari.”

Ivy didn’t know why, but she felt a sudden oncoming of foreboding, like things could go wrong in an instant if the incorrect word was said. It didn’t make any sense, but she had learned to trust her instincts on most matters: if it felt like Lavi was planning something, he probably was; if something didn’t seem quite right about the cafeteria food that day, best not to eat it. Trying to avoid a potential sour turn of events, Ivy said the first thing that came to mind.

“So, Lavi, you called us here for a reason, yes?”

* * *

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have been brought here for a very important reason.”

Lavi had begun his speech, marching in a straight line back and forth parallel to the one he had positioned his friends in. A stick that had broken off from a nearby tree was in his hands for no other reason than he thought it made it seem like he was important. He would have liked to have engraved an American flag in the snow bank behind him for effects, but no one had the patience for that.

“This, my comrades, is a snow day. This means that we are given a blessing of sorts: A freedom to do as we please for another day, and an extremely large amount of snow to utilize during this time. And while this may not seem relevant, it most certainly is. Because today we have gained an opening to engage in what could possibly be the most epic snow battle of all time.” Lavi halted in his march to look at the expressions on his friends’ faces; they ranged from vaguely interested to bored as hell (Kanda of course).

“Of course, there are certain rules that need to be abided by—”

“ _Free for all!_ ”

The call had been Ari’s, and she had accented it by launching a snow ball into her brother’s face, though no one knew when she had made it. Lavi was left spluttering and wiping the remains of snow from his face with no means of immediate retaliation as his attacker had already disappeared behind one of the many snow banks as a means of cover, taking Allen with her.

“That was satisfying,” Kanda muttered.

“I’d say,” Ivy agreed, her own grin forming as she packed together a new missile in gloved hands, making sure to compress it as much as possible. “I vote that we go into cover after this and make a fort. Build up some ammunition, too.”

“After what?”

The question was barely out before the snowball left Ivy’s hands, her deadly force and accuracy showing for the first time since the dodgeball match a few months ago. Right on target, the snow exploded at Lavi’s bandana covered forehead, causing him to stumble back a few steps in an effort not to fall over.

“That. Now we run,” Ivy remarked at the same time Lavi let out a shout of “Not cool!”

Oddly enough, Kanda felt like he could be content with the Rabbit’s antics for once.

* * *

Allen really didn’t know what to think of this whole mess.

Sure, Lavi wanting a snowball fight, that was to be expected. The same exact thing had occurred in previous years, though with not quite the same results. For one, Kanda hadn’t been willing to comply at all and the redhead had found himself buried in a snow drift, and that had been the end of that. And well, Ivy and Kanda getting together was gonna happen eventually, idea the thought of _Kanda_ actually asking someone _to go out with him_ kinda weirded the Brit out if he thought too hard about it. But what really had caught him off guard had been the reappearance of Ari.

As you may have already guessed, most of our group had known Ari previously (alongside the obvious note of Lavi), but since she had left almost a year and a half previously, she had been prevented from meeting Ivy when the latter transferred in. But in all that time, Allen hadn’t really expected Ari to come back so abruptly (though part of him had considered the thought), if at all. After all, he had heard about the Bookmen from his guardian (if you could call the drunkard that) Cross, and they weren’t exactly known as the type to stay in a place for long.

And yet, Ari had returned, and here he was, part of the girl’s idea of fun, otherwise known as tormenting her brother. Of course, he knew that she was only that way because she loved the redhead, but still. He didn’t particularly hold any interest in completely burying Lavi in snow. Okay, maybe he did have a bit, just a _tiny_ little bit, of interest. But spending his _entire_ day off that way wasn’t exactly on his to do list. But what choice did he have? The Bookman siblings were both adamant about the idea of a snow ball fight.

In much simpler terms, there was no way out of this.

“Eh? Allen-kun, is something wrong?” Ari asked, tilting her head to the side and pausing in building the snow fort she had set out to construct. Allen didn’t get how this thing worked; she was actually making a _second floor_ and it was _holding_. Of course, he didn’t think it would support him, but it could probably keep Ari above the ground with not too much problem. But why exactly did you need a second floor on a snow fort…?

“Um, not really…” Allen dismissed. “Just… I was wondering… Why exactly _did_ you come back? Just to mess with Lavi?”

“Oh… I guess you could say that…” Ari giggled. “Of course, I also came back for—hey, did you hear that?” The younger Bookman sibling stood up from her production and brushed the accumulated snow from her pants. “Over there.”

Allen looked in the direction Ari was now pointing, but all he could see were multiple snow dunes across the park and a few bare trees. Then again, both Ari and her brother both possessed slightly heightened observational skills (though how much they were used varied greatly between the two), so it wasn’t improbable that she had picked up on something he hadn’t.

“Snow crunching has a very easy sound to pick up on when not much else is going on,” Ari commented. “Nii-chan’s more than likely making his own fort and knowing Lenalee, she’s either gotten roped into his team or defaulting to ref…” Green eyes turned back to Allen as their owner grinned. “That leaves Kanda-san and that Ivy-san girl, and I don’t see Kanda-san participating much, let alone going for an ambush strategy. I assume you know the girl better than I do, Allen-kun; what do you think she’s up to?”

Allen paused to think about just what Ivy would do in a situation like this and only two things came to mind: everything Lavi had done and exactly how dodgeball had went… “To be honest, she probably would go for an ambush style strategy,” he reported after considering it. “But I don’t think she’d go for us.” The Brit couldn’t help but chuckle when Ari once again tilted her head in confusion. “What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that she’d more than likely mount an attack against Lavi before anything else.”

Allen was a bit caught off when Ari straight-out burst into a small fit of laughter. When the moment passed, she let out a happy sigh. “One after my own heart, huh?” A grin passed over the girl’s face. “And getting Kanda-san in on it wouldn’t be too hard; I know how much he claims to dislike Nii-chan.” Another laugh broke through the air, a slight amount of fog trailing after it. Ari looked down at where Allen was still sitting on the ground, obviously confused, before she winked.

“Allen-kun, I think it’s time we formed ourselves an alliance, ne?”

* * *

Meanwhile, a very oblivious Rabbit was trying to build his own fort for protection and humming as he did so.

Well, the whole humming bit was a way to block out the otherwise silence that had fallen. It was also an attempt to take his mind of the downside of the situation, that being as such that his sister, Ivy, and Kanda all seemed content with what he assumed to be his snow-filled demise. Even worse, Ari had chosen to take the Brit with her, which, when you looked at the fact of Lenalee deciding to only referee instead of join the fun, left Lavi partner-less.

Which absolutely wasn’t fair! Why did _he_ need to be left alone, when three people who probably wouldn’t care if he died in the process were lusting for his blood? Okay, maybe that was going too far, but still. He had at least been counting on having Brit on his side, but that plan obviously hadn’t worked out. And now… Lavi could honestly say that he felt the slightest bit miffed at the moment, but that feeling was stifled by his slight concern for his life.

“Man…” Lavi mused as he completed his fort and let out a weak laugh. “This kinda blows… Wait a minute—!”

Lavi had been listening to everything for once, out of instinct for a snowball fight, and he didn’t like what he heard. His sister was very much the type for the ambush maneuver, and she also knew how to prepare large amounts of ammunition in short amounts of time. In essence, you could just say that Lavi had taught Ari just a little too well. Lavi tried to keep his hopes up by thinking maybe, just maybe, Ivy and Kanda had gotten distracted by… well, other things. But that was quickly dashed by the sound of crunching snow letting him know that there was indeed a full force of four coming his way.

Lavi sighed, slumping down into the middle of his fort. At least it would provide some protection, and he knew he could count on Lenalee to save him before things went too far…

Ari’s voice was unmistakable and a bit too jubilant as it shouted the command, the command being “ _Attack!_ ”

The resultant laugh from our redhead was feeble, and his smile was grim. “I’m… gonna die…”

* * *

By the time Lenalee had finally decided that it was enough and Lavi was successfully buried under a nice pile of snow, Kanda came to the conclusion that he was allowed to leave, Ivy followed soon after, Ari climbed up to and seated herself on top of the small hill she had helped made, and Allen took pity on his friend by starting to dig him up.

Face planted in the ground, Lavi hoped to god that his sister didn’t get bored again anytime soon.


	17. 17. Triangle Theory

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

17\. Triangle Theory

* * *

School had been back in session for a week, and Lavi was perfectly alright with that scenario, thank you very much. While he normally would have enjoyed his winter break to the fullest—sleeping, watching TV, and even reading through a small stack of books he had discovered while cleaning up for the Christmas Party and realizing that he had left them (gasp) unread—Ari was one to make these sorts of things difficult. Even though her boredom had been erased by her brother’s near death under snow, it didn’t stop her from invading his personal space on a regular basis.

But school was a different story. Being trapped in the house only left her with one person to bother; the school gave her back the small group of friends she had left behind while heading out to France. She still hung out with the gang, but more often than not she would be catching up with some friend or another. Ari was much easier to handle in small doses, which was how most of the world seemed to view Lavi instead. Put them together and actually getting along would be enough to scare off anyone.

Lavi couldn’t say he hated Ari, though. She was his sister after all! It would take some real asshole like Kanda to even consider really hating their sibling. What existed between the Bookman siblings was simply sibling rivalry, even if it could go into less-than-healthy levels on occasion. Ari was only being extra harsh because she had a year and a half of her own special kind of love built up to get out all at once. Things would go back to a rational level soon enough.

Because that was how it was. Lavi loved his sister with all his heart, and nothing could stop him. Not the jokes, not the torment, not even the massacres that ended in him buried under two feet of snow and a cold the next day. He could still feel the effects of being sick even now, sucking up snot into his nose that would have been better placed in the tissues he had forgotten at home. Lavi had already slept through his first two classes, and was slugging through the hallways to sleep through the study hall he had signed up for this exact purpose.

Maybe it worked out in Ari’s favor that she could make the best chicken soup in the world when asked.

Lavi somehow made it into the classroom without being late or falling over. He tossed his books to the side, head making a home on an improvised arm pillow on top of the desk. If it had been a normal teacher in charge of the classroom, Lavi would have been able to get away with it by showing off his near portfolio of completed assignments for the next couple of months of the year. Since Reever was in charge of the study hall in question, no such effort was required.

“Still feeling sick, Lavi?” a voice asked, sitting in the desk by the rabbit in question. Lavi peeked an eye (it should be obvious which one) out from his little dome of darkness he had created to see Allen. The white-haired boy was pulling some papers out of a folder, an assignment for some other class. The fact that the Brit could bring himself to work on school related things so early in the morning was astounding.

“Yeah, but seeing your face makes me feel better,” Lavi said, sitting up to show off his grin. His head hurt from the movement and he could feel a considerable amount of mucus attempt to drain out of his nose, but it was worth it. “The cold’s almost run its course. Based off the average, I should feel better sometime Wednesday afternoon.”

“" course. Based off the average, I should feel better sometime Wednesday afternoon."could feel a considerable amount of mucus atI hope so,” Allen said, scooting away from Lavi the slightest bit. He tried not to make it obvious, but it was almost cute the way he tried to avoid showing that he was a minor germophobe. Lavi chuckled, only making it halfway through before erupting into a small bout of coughing he hid in his scarf. “You’re not… contagious are you?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it,” Lavi reassured, waving his hand in the air, as if that would dismiss the issue. If anything, Allen seemed more worried by the moving appendage than reassured. “Your immune system should be able to kick the crap out of what I have; otherwise you would have caught it already.”

Allen nodded, not entirely relaxing. Sentences that contained the word “should” never seemed to work out in his favor. He _should_ have been able to get along with Kanda on some minimal level. Cross _should_ have been an acceptable guardian. The plans Lavi had _should_ somehow not end in something terrible. With that experience in mind, the fact that _should_ _be able to not get sick_ wasn’t very reassuring, especially since it came out of Lavi’s mouth.

“Just get better soon…” Allen said instead. Bless his soul, the Brit was hardly ever not polite. It would take a lot for him to be cruel to a sick person. Unless that sick person was Kanda. In that case it would be difficult for even someone like Allen to be kind.

“Daw, Brit, you’re worried about me,” Lavi cooed. Allen couldn’t deny it. He was worried about Lavi, but it really didn’t have anything to do with the redhead’s sickness. That was an entire issue on its own. “Hey, maybe you could help me out with this problem I’ve been having.”

“Weren’t you going to sleep?” Allen asked. Not that he minded talking to Lavi, but the last few days had been peaceful, and it was nice to use his study hall to, you know, _actually_ study. It was a novel concept, but it seemed to work out well. Allen couldn’t figure out for the life of him why he hadn’t thought of it in the first place.

Lavi straightened out his back, a refusal to comply with his friend’s expectation. He ended up slouching a second later, but he didn’t rest. “I can sleep next period, it’s just chemistry, anyway,” he said, dismissing the thought. Allen seriously envied Lavi for his ability to sleep through any class because he already understood everything they were being taught. Some people had to work to get their good grades, thank you. “I wanna do something nice for Ari. A peace offering, you know.”

Allen wasn’t concerned by the wording—that much was normal. The idea that Lavi thought it would be a good idea to ask someone for advice before going off onto one of his hair-brained schemes was the shocking part. Maybe the end of the world had just slept in on New Year’s and decided to come a few weeks later than everyone was expecting. The apocalypse was much more fun when no one saw it coming.

“You want my help?” Allen asked. “I guess I don’t mind helping you set some things up, but I don’t think I’ll be able to come up with any good ideas. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Ari so her tastes have probably changed a lot since then…” For some reason, Allen wasn’t scared of getting involved this time. Anything had to be safer than running around trying to get Kanda a girlfriend.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Brit, Ari adores you,” Lavi said. Allen felt his cheeks turn red, even though there was no reason for them to do so. “Whenever you first moved here, she wouldn’t stop pestering me about you. ‘When’s Allen-san coming over?’ and all that. I bet if you helped out with her present, it would make her happy even if it’s something she absolutely hates.” Lavi paused, surveying his friend. “You okay there, Brit? Maybe I was wrong and you got sick.”

The panic that Allen felt at the sentence was quickly overshadowed by his heart pounding in his eardrums. “Lavi,” he croaked, “why are you choosing just now to tell me that your sister has a crush on me?” Sure, he knew that Ari had liked him as a friend and probably hung out with him the most out of the group, but he had never considered that she _liked_ him. She was his best friend’s sister after all. Wasn’t there supposed to be something awkward about that?

“You didn’t know?” Lavi said, oblivious to Allen’s inner turmoil. “I thought she made it obvious and you were just being polite and a good old British gentleman and not hurting anyone’s feelings by choosing.”

“Choosing,” Allen repeated in a deadpan. It wasn’t even a question anymore. It was a demand for an answer that Allen wasn’t even entirely sure he wanted to hear. But he had come this far, but he might as well figure out exactly what else Lavi had been neglecting to tell him.

The redhead nodded. “Yeah, choosing. I mean, I don’t really care if you go for my sister. There’s no one else I’d rather trust her to. Though I don’t know how I could ever choose whether to be a groomsmen or a bridesmaid at the wedding.”

“Lavi!” Allen’s voice shot up a couple of octaves in embarrassment. Most of the class turned their heads in the two boy’s direction, and Reever gave them a warning glance over the desk. He may have possibly been the coolest teacher ever, but there were limits to his patience. Allen lowered his voice. “What are you talking about, Lavi? Just who exactly am I choosing from?”

“Whoa, you really don’t know?” Allen shook his head. Lavi stared, wide-eyed. “Besides my sister, there’s the lovely Lenalady, too. She’s not as obvious about it, but she definitely likes you, too. She told me a couple years ago. I didn’t say anything ‘cause I thought you two were just doing that weird high school thing where you just kinda wait around for the other to say something then you just get fed up and end up confessing to each other at the same time. But if you really didn’t know, then—”

“We’re done having this conversation,” Allen said, face still red. He turned back to his desk, trying to reorient his brain with what he had learned in class that morning. Lavi sat there, still waiting to say something, but kept his mouth shut.

* * *

All ideas to do something nice for Ari were on hold. Not to say that it wasn’t important, but Lavi realized that there was no way he could focus on doing his sister a favor when the Brit was involved in a problem like this. Besides that, Ari would take a gift whenever it came to her—no horses were looked in the mouth with the younger Bookman sibling involved, no sir. Allen having relationship issues was a situation that could only occur once in a lifetime.

Okay, so maybe ‘relationship issues’ wasn’t the right phrase for it. And once in a lifetime was kinda exaggerating, too. After all there wasn’t some relationship crisis going on, it was just a matter of helping the Brit recognize that two girls liked him and helping him along in making a decision of which one to date, even if that decision was neither. Besides, wasn’t it a friend’s job to make sure his other friends were happy and help them out with discovering their feelings? Lavi Bookman had done his duty and got _Kanda Yu_ a girlfriend. Surely he was a matchmaking expert by now!

Admittedly, though, he had never dealt with love triangles before. Kanda and Ivy had such obvious crushes on each other that it had been easy to push the two together, even with Kanda’s stubbornness. It would be much harder, especially since Lavi didn’t know if Allen would even have the heart to choose a girl. Definitely the first step was to figure out if he liked either of them, but things would be complicated if the answer was both.

There was research to be done. Lavi had a whole study hall period to work on things, plus to figure out if he liked eitherof thehe had been planning to blow off his other classes in favor of sleeping anyway. He would get a good start now and halfway pay attention to show that he was still a good student, despite the drawings in his notebook. At the very least he would be able to come up with possible solutions by the end of the day. Sleep could come when he was done or when he passed out. Whichever came first. It was like the chicken and egg scenario where you just didn’t know, aside from the fact that the chicken life form could develop without any eggs and was more likely to but that just spoils the damn metaphor.

So he left Allen to his homework and got permission from Reever to spend the rest of the period in study hall. Lavi could almost skip down the hall. Despite his forming headache and lack of airflow through his nostrils, he felt great.

Kanda made a face like had had smelled something nasty and was about to throw up as Lavi walked into the library. Ever since the Japanese teen had realized he would be stuck in all the same classes as the rabbit, no take backs, Kanda had taken whatever means he could to ignore the redhead. Study hall was usually his saving grace because he could at least escape to the library. Even if Lavi followed Kanda there, the rabbit would at least to be quiet. He practically had a permanent reservation.

Lavi had pouted a bit at first, but had ultimately let it slide. While he had rigged his friend’s schedule so they could spend their senior year together, he hadn’t anticipated that Allen would share the same study hall period with them. Lavi had then decided that he needed some quality Brit time, letting Kanda have his peace and quiet for at least forty minutes a day.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck are you doing here?” Kanda gritted out. That peace and quiet would probably be going to hell quite soon. Not even waiting for an answer, he started to pull his work together, fully intending to leave. Even if it was a library, Lavi would find some way to annoy him, intentional or no. He’d rather go deal with the Beansprout and Komui at the same time. That would be somehow more standable, if not less annoying.

“Relax, Yu-pon, I’m not here to see you,” Lavi said. “We have next period together so I’ll come and see you then.” He went to smile, but ended up sneezing instead. Kanda grimaced as a trail of snot dangled in the air, then was sucked back up into Lavi’s nose.

“Good, then you won’t care if I leave.” Kanda finished organizing his books into a stack and picked them up. He disappeared out the door seconds later, returning to the classroom. Lavi was surprised at how fast Kanda was willing to move just to get away from him. Not particularly hurt by the thought, Lavi turned his sights to the reception desk where his true target sat.

Lenalee.

It’s not like Lavi had come to the library to try and look up advice anyway. He knew better than to go to books for things like this, and using the internet as a source always ended in trouble. Sure, asking a member of the love triangle he was concerned about for advice wasn’t the best idea either, but it was the best lead he had for the moment.

It would be so much easier if Lenalee and Ari were males and Allen was a female. Then the two could just kick the crap out of each other to see who would get the girl. But girls were a lot more complicated than that. And who else to ask for how to deal with girl problems than the Lenalady herself?

“Lenalee, how are you doing this fine day?” Lavi asked, overdoing it by a lot. Somehow, he was still able to convey all the same excitement and energy as usual in a whisper. The library wasn’t too big a place, and while it looked empty, it wasn’t out of the question for someone to be hiding behind the bookshelves and overhear. Even if it was unintentional, that would be uncool on so many levels. At least Lavi had the decency to only eavesdrop on people he knew.

“What’s up, Lavi?” Lenalee asked, skipping over the pretenses. She didn’t mind dealing with Lavi’s whims, but she didn’t want to be caught up in some ridiculous question if—gasp—some kid actually came to the front desk for help or, worse, her boss came in and caught her slacking. “Have some overly complex hair-brained scheme like the SSGTIK up your sleeve again?”

“No, it’s not like that. I actually came here for advice.” Lenalee blinked. Usually Lavi would go running off on whatever traces of a plan he had without bothering to consult anyone else other than giving the illusion of ‘asking’ for their help then hopelessly dragging them along through the rabbit-themed roller coaster ride that followed. This was unusual. “You see, there’s this friend of mine outside our group that’s gotten himself shoved in the middle of a love triangle.”

“A love triangle?” Lenalee repeated. “Who is it? Is it anyone I know?” While the Chinese teen tried to avoid gossip the best she could, she was still a teenage girl. Tacky as it was, there was still something satisfying about learning about some amazing scoop or the other.

Lavi shook his head. “Sorry, Lenalady, I can’t condone this kind of behavior,” he said. “It’s no one you know, and he kind of asked me to not mention it to anyone else. I’m kind of pushing it right now because I don’t know where else to go, but I totally would never be able to forgive myself if I said his name. So for once, my lips are sealed.” He imitated closing his mouth with a zipper. “I’ll find you some other piece of gossip to spread around later, alright?”

“Oh, get on with it,” Lenalee said, trying to hide her satisfaction. For his occasional dives into being an idiot, Lavi certainly knew how to compliment people to get them on his side. He had enough charisma for it, anyway. Besides, he was her friend, and what sort of friend would abandon someone when they asked for advice? Lenalee was not that kind of person, no sir. “Just what exactly do you need my help with?”

Lavi sat down on a clear spot on the desk, leaning towards Lenalee and keeping his voice at a whisper. “Well, I’ve never dealt with love triangles, but I figured you might be better for this situation than I am,” he said. Lenalee nodded. “Basically two girls like my friend, but he’s not sure how he feels about either of them since he just recently found out. What do you think the first thing he should do is? Or rather, what advice would you give him if he was asking you?”

“Well,” Lenalee started, a finger on her chin as she thought. “The first thing he should do is figure out his own feelings. Spend time with each of them, but focus on it as a friendship. If that develops into something else, he can go on a date without necessarily turning it into a committed relationship. If he likes them both, he can try one date with each of them, but if he lets them find out, it’s all over. It’s kind of difficult, but that’s the best way I can think of. If he doesn’t like either of them he’ll just have to find a way to let them both down gently.”

Lavi nodded a few times, sitting up straight and crossing his arms. He had made the right decision; Lenalee was definitely the right place to go. It would be a lot harder to set up the plan without her realizing she was part of it, but that was a challenge Lavi was willing to deal with. If it would resolve the issue, it would all be worth it in the end.

It wasn’t like he would be alone on this one.

“You truly are amazing, Lenalee,” he complimented. The girl blushed, fighting a small smile forming at the corner of her lips. “Would it be too much of a trouble if I came back to you for advice, later? I think I can handle the situation on my own, but just in case.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lenalee said. “Though I’d appreciate it if you could come to me when I’m not working? I’d rather not get in trouble.”

“No problem! I’ll get out of your hair right now.” Lavi jumped up from where he was sitting.

“Also, Lavi…”

“What is it?”

Lenalee held out a box of tissues in front of her, almost like a weapon. “Please blow your nose first.”

“Right!”

* * *

While Lavi was well aware of the fact that he was an amazing individual who could part-time as a miracle worker on the best of days, he still knew his limits. There was no way he could find the time to organize the times and dates and interactions necessary to help out Allen all on his own. While last time he had developed the SSGTIK, the other two members were obviously otherwise occupied in this situation. He would need to find new help.

Kanda wasn’t an option. Lavi had racked his brain for the rest of the study hall on a good way to try and convince him otherwise. When he realized he was halfway through his chemistry class and Kanda was still in a bad mood from being forced out of the library the period before, Lavi gave it up for broke. Unless another miracle happened concerning the Japanese teenager, there was just no way, and convincing Kanda to get a girlfriend was probably the most miracles they were gonna get for a few years, let alone the few weeks that had passed.

So that left one option left.

Lavi had gotten to lunch earlier than usual, not even bothering to stop by his locker and unceremoniously dumping his books on a table. He had been the first in the lunch line—aw yeah—although he hadn’t been paying attention to what he had been getting. Ivy was usually there first, followed by Kanda. Allen would show up soon after, Lenalee occasionally trailing behind to walk to lunch with some of her other friends. Ari was a varying entity, as already discussed.

Ivy entered the lunchroom, and Lavi took his chance while he still could. Kanda being in the area would make the conversation difficult, so this needed to be talked about now. Ivy sat her books for the next few classes down—always prepared—on the table across from Lavi before heading to the lunch line. Enacting his super awesome ninja skills, the redhead followed—

—and was promptly seen soon after. Ivy raised her eyebrow at Lavi, tossing a glance at his lunch tray in the process. She didn’t need to voice the question since it was so obvious, but she chose to anyway. “What are you doing?”

Lavi had two options—BS or tell the truth. He had already lied to Lenalee earlier, and he really didn’t feel like doing it twice in one day. Besides, good friendships and working relationships are based on trust, and if Ivy was going to be his only partner, they needed to work together well. Lavi grinned. “You’re so observant, Ivy-chan,” he said. “That’s why I need you around.”

Ivy kept her eyebrow raised, even while she was walking towards the lunch line. Lavi followed like some form of strange puppy/rabbit combo, sticking close behind her. “I could recognize that look from a mile away, even if you weren’t being so obvious about it,” she commented. “What sort of plan have you been thinking up this time?”

“A super special secret awesome and totally necessary one,” Lavi answered, almost as a disclaimer. Even though he had meant to use the phrasing to seal the deal that this was as serious as a goddamn heart attack, Ivy didn’t look like she was buying it. “I mean it! This is about Brit’s love life!” Realizing his voice was raising again, he covered his mouth and checked that none of the parties involved were near or had overheard. Everything seemed clear, and the usual lunchroom noise covered up even Lavi’s volume nicely.

“Is it now?” Ivy asked. It was really more to humor Lavi than anything; she could care less. She had her own romantic issues to deal with—it was hard adjusting to being in a relationship when you had never been in one before, not to mention when your significant other was in the same boat _and_ was Kanda Yu. Besides, Allen should have been able to sail smoothly since he had gotten a date with Lenalee in the fall. Ivy failed to see what the problem was.

Lavi didn’t seem to notice her lack of excitement—or if he did, he wasn’t about to let it dampen her spirits. “Listen, I know you don’t know my sister that well, but she’s had this major crush on Allen for years—”

“And you want to get them together,” Ivy said, finishing the thought. It was such a predictable pattern. She was caught off guard when Lavi shook his head instead, more calm than usual. “Then what is it?”

“You and I both know for a fact that Lenalee likes Allen, too.” Ivy nodded. “I’m not the kind of guy that would force my sister on the Brit just ‘cause it would make her happy. Not when Lenalee’s involved and Allen’s not even sure about his feelings. All I really want is to work in a way that helps Allen figure out which one he likes and work from there. And after that we can help them get together.”

“Isn’t that for them to decide?” Ivy’s tone was harsher than usual, and Lavi took a step back. “No offense, Lavi, but you have a penchant for sticking your nose in places where it doesn’t belong. I mean, your sister’s only been back for a few weeks and you want to spring this on her? And what about Lenalee? She’s perfectly capable of making the decision to stand back and wait for Allen if she wants to. Have you even _talked_ to Allen about this?”

Lavi shook his head, and Ivy scoffed. They had made it through the lunch line to pick out their food. Ivy snatched a tray from the stack and put it down on the rack across the cafeteria with too much force. Lavi winced and focused on picking out his own lunch. At least Jerry was working today, so that made the usually questionable lunch fare look amazing.

“Come on, Ivy,” he tried. The other teen didn’t look back, punching her ID number into the pad next to the cashier. “I’m just trying to do them a favor like I did for you and Yu-pon.” Ivy stopped while trying to walk away, turning and waiting for the redhead to finish paying for his lunch.

“Lavi, listen,” Ivy said once he was done. Her voice had lost its edge, and the words were gentle. “I’m grateful for what you did for me and Yu-kun. I really am. But the fact of the matter is that you caused a lot of trouble that could have been avoided if you had just let us go at our own pace.” Lavi opened his mouth to speak, but Ivy shot him a glare. “Yu-kun may not have done anything, but I was seriously considering confessing to him soon.”

Lavi was surprised by the news, but kept his mouth shut. If he had known that, would he have still done the things he had and dragged Allen and Lenalee along for the ride? It was a question he really couldn’t answer.

“The reason I went along with what you did was because it was speeding up the process. I used the openings you gave me to do what I wanted to do. It wasn’t what I planned, but it did work. But I would have felt better if I had done everything by my own power.” Ivy paused and looked down to her lunch tray then back to Lavi. “You shouldn’t try and do these things without consulting with Allen first. If that’s your intention, I won’t help you.”

“Do you think that’s the best thing to do?” Lavi asked. He knew she was right; he hadn’t been considering the feelings of the people he had been trying to help. Not to mention he had never been on the side of someone being helped into a relationship before. He had flirted with girls before, dated a few, but it had never been serious. Ivy gave him a look that let him know her answer to the question would be obvious. “If that’s the case I really do need your help.”

“Lavi, I don’t need your flattery. It’s not going to change any—”

“No, no, listen.” Ivy kept her silence, her expression neutral. If he knew what she was feeling this would be so much easier. “If I’ve been looking at this all wrong, I’m going to need you to help me out. You know where I’ve made mistakes before and you’ve been on the other side of this. If there’s anyone that can stop me from screwing this up, you’re that person, Ivy-chan.” The girl didn’t respond. “I do need your help, Ivy-chan. Please?”

Ivy sighed, her shoulders sinking. “Yeah, fine,” she said. Lavi would have jumped for joy if it wouldn’t have sent his lunch flying everywhere. He settled for a moderate-loud cheer. The few people leaving the lunch line gave them stares, but no one from their lunch table seemed to notice. “I have a few conditions, though, so listen up.”

Lavi nodded a few times. “Yes ma’am.”

“We aren’t going to directly interfere, nor are we going to do anything on our own. Everything we are going to do will be an assist. That is, we will discuss things with Allen beforehand, include him in planning, and help him out when he needs it. No solo missions, no pulling things out of our asses, and no doing _anything_ he hasn’t said is alright. If you can deal with that, then I’ll help you.”

Lavi considered the conditions. It wasn’t exactly the way he had imagined this going, but it was get Ivy’s help or have no one. Even if he thought he could handle it, these things were much more fun if you did them with other people. Besides, this would be the best excuse he could ever have to properly bond with his best friend’s girlfriend. “I can deal,” he said.

Ivy smiled. “Good. Come on, everyone will get suspicious if we’re just standing around here doing nothing. I expect you want this to be a top-secret mission like last time, am I right?”

“You know me so well, Ivy-chan,” Lavi said as he followed behind her.

“And Lavi?” Ivy spoke without looking back at him. “One last condition.”

“What’s that?”

“No playing favorites, you got that? Just because your sister’s involved doesn’t mean you make anything easier for her, understand? I won’t stand for it.”

“I understand perfectly, Ivy-chan.” Oddly enough, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. He was too busy trying to figure out what to do with the second lunch he had accidentally acquired.


	18. 18. Temporary Insanity

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

18\. Temporary Insanity

* * *

Lenalee Lee was not stupid. She had also inherited her brother’s smarts without any of the crazy, which helped out a lot in both the academic and popularity departments. Given enough time and study, she could perform well on any test, though she couldn’t constantly pull out perfect scores like Lavi or constant A’s like Kanda. She did, however, have a decent enough grade point average that she wasn’t too worried about getting into college when the time came in the next few years.

Even with her academic skill, her talents mostly rested elsewhere. One couldn’t be popular by being smart, and while Lenalee hadn’t exactly _tried_ to be popular, it was hard for her not to be. She was fashionable, social, and fell into the right level of attractiveness to fit the bill. While she would never trade her group of friends just for the sake of being more popular, she wouldn’t just let her status slip away from her either.

That being said, having to socialize with so many people made her good at reading them. She could tell how people really felt from just a few words—if they were giving false flattery to get on her good side or hiding a crush they had on someone or if they were forcing themselves to be happy just because they thought they should be. It was a useful skill, either in that it helped her avoid trouble or understand someone a little bit better.

The skill was even more useful whenever she was dealing with her friends, mostly because she had more time to study their habits. Lenalee knew that Allen always twitched his damaged arm whenever someone tried to ask him about it because he felt uncomfortable, that Kanda made slightly smaller outbursts whenever he was just pretending to be angry at someone else, that her brother scrunched up his nose when a cup of coffee didn’t reach his standards, and that Ivy pushed her hair out her face when she was stalling for time to come up with a way to word responses she knew her conversation partner didn’t like.

And Lenalee knew that Lavi tended to play with the ends of his scarf whenever he was hiding something, which he had just happened to be doing the entire time he had been talking to her in the library.

From there it hadn’t been difficult to figure out just what exactly was going on. Lavi had been more excited than usual at lunch, bouncing his leg up and down underneath the table until Kanda had threatened to cut it off. Ivy seemed to be lost in thought, picking at her lunch twice as much as she was actually eating it. They had come out of the lunch line together, meaning that they had probably talked. The fact that Lavi had bought an extra lunch seemed to confirm it. Said extra lunch had made it into Allen’s stomach, the British teenager barely talking and his neck constantly red. He didn’t seem sick, Ari was eating with her friends, and Kanda was otherwise unaffected, which left only one conclusion.

Evidence and conclusion number one: Lavi had been hiding something in the library, which was more than likely the fact that Lenalee _did_ know the person in question stuck in the middle of the love triangle. While it was possible that it was someone outside of their group, Lavi wouldn’t have been as adamant about keeping it a secret, even if he had promised.

Evidence and conclusion number two: The person in the middle of the triangle was male. Kanda was out considering that he was dating Ivy. Lavi wasn’t the type of person to be confused by his feelings, let alone try to choose between two girls. The pursuit of a serious relationship just wasn’t something he did. The person in the middle of the love triangle was then Allen.

It wasn’t rocket science to figure out where everything else was going from there. Lenalee could say for certain she was one of said people. She could say with slightly less certainty that Ari was the other. Lenalee had selfishly hoped that the younger girl would have found someone else while off in France, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Even the way Ari had spoken seemed to indicate that she still had a crush on Allen, not to mention come back to the States to study because she had missed him.

And given Lavi’s tendencies for sticking his nose in places where it didn’t belong, especially when it came to the relationships of others, it was obvious he was going to try and meddle. All that advice that he had managed to get Lenalee to cough up in the library was going to be used against her.

So much for the “don’t let either of the girls know” rule. Lavi’s plan could technically be over before it even started if Lenalee went to say anything. She could confront Lavi about it, make him stop right now. It was the only logical thing to do.

Except Lenalee couldn’t see what good that would do anyone. Lavi would still go through with it, unless she was stern enough. While that was something Lenalee could pull off, she didn’t know where that would get her. Allen was a sweetheart, that was why he liked him, but he couldn’t act on his interest in her at all. Further, he would be far too polite to _ever_ choose between Lenalee or Ari knowing that that they were both interested.

That boy was too nice for his own good. Maybe that’s why he was so dreamy. Not that his looks should be discounted, either. That would just be madness.

Lavi pushing Allen on was the only way they could ever get him to choose, unless Lenalee jumped the initiative and asked him out first. Being under pressure would only make it rushed, though, and Lenalee wouldn’t stand for that. She had been planning this moment for _years_ and it had to be perfect.

Okay, so letting Lavi manage everything was definitely _not_ the best way for things to be perfect, but at least Ivy was helping him. That alone had to at least work in a way that would make this decision less insane!

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Of course this decision wasn’t exactly final. Lenalee had only been giving the matter thought outside of class time while traveling the halls. She had to focus on her classes to be a good student after all! Just because she was popular didn’t mean she had to let her grades slip. Okay, maybe it wasn’t entirely true and she tuned out her classes a few times, scribbling doodles on the side of her notebook, but what else are you supposed to do when the teacher’s voice just drones on and on and makes you want to fall asleep? She should at least get props for being one of the few students to stay awake through that lecture.

Besides, they hadn’t been learning anything interesting anyway.

At least now it was the end of the school day, with only one period left. While other students had to slug through their last class, Lenalee had not fallen for such a trap. She had signed up for home ec with full knowledge that it would cover her last period, and give her an excuse to eat whatever she wanted before heading home. It was the rule that all food had to be eaten or taken home at the end of the day.

However, she had not escaped entirely unscathed. While the period was often a sanctuary, things had changed during the new semester. Lenalee had walked into the class, only to find out that Ari Bookman had signed up for it as well. Further, her former partner had needed to take a different class, so she was gone, too. In the end, the two teenagers had found themselves paired up for the rest of the school year.

That Jerry sure was a clever bastard. He had sworn up and down the partner selection was random draw, but seeing as he hadn’t done it in front of the class, Lenalee seriously doubted that.

It wasn’t like she hated Ari. They could get along just fine if the situation called for it, and had even bonded about being the only girls in an all guy’s friend group at first. Liking Allen was the only problem, which they had realized about the same time when they were slipping Valentines into the British boy’s locker.

Lenalee didn’t do catfights. They were just tacky in a stereotypical school girl television drama kind of way and took way too much effort to come out of with your pride and makeup intact. Apparently, neither did Ari, although the reasons weren’t the same. The two girls were left in front of the locker, trying to give the other the chance to go first until Allen showed up for his things, leaving neither to succeed.

Things hadn’t changed much.

Ari smiled as she walked into the room, and Lenalee smiled back. “Hello, Ari,” the Chinese girl said first, gaining the upper hand. “How has your day been?” The words were almost too sweet coming out of her mouth, but not enough to be obvious. Anyone else looking on probably would have thought they got along exceptionally well. It was an art that took time to master, really.

“I’ve been fine,” Ari answered with the same tone in her voice, mixed in with a bit of Lavi’s cheerfulness. The younger teenager was somehow able to make the words sound more natural, but that undertone was still there. “And you, Lenalee?”

“I’ve had a good day, as well,” she answered. “It’s nice to see that Lavi is still able to come to school. He’s not giving you too much trouble at home, is he?” Directing the conversation to a new topic, Lenalee was able to stay in control. She was smiling, but she really wished she could smirk right now.

Ari didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, of course not. It’s no problem to take care of him, really. After all, I am his sister. It’s only natural to not mind taking care of him, especially when it’s so easy. Although, I hope your own brother isn’t bothering you too much.”

Lenalee considered the situation. Komui had become caught up in some new project or another—she seriously hoped he wasn’t trying to build another robot again; _that_ had been a disaster—so he hadn’t been as eccentric as usual. Or rather, he wasn’t being as eccentric around her.

She opened her mouth to answer, only to have the bell ring over her. Ari’s smile seemed to widen just a bit as Jerry called attention to the front of the class, eliminating Lenalee’s chance to respond at all. Despite her best efforts, the other girl had ended up winning the last word.

Lenalee swore that even if Lavi was calling the shots, she wouldn’t lose to Ari again.

* * *

Ivy had gone to her and Kanda’s usual hang out room in record time, trying to get her homework out of the way as quickly as possible. Even though she had gotten Lavi to hold himself back, that didn’t exactly make her feel any better about what they were going to do. Managing a project that involved assisting _Allen’s_ love life—of all people the rabbit could have chosen!—in the middle of a love triangle was going to be hard enough. Add in regulating the redhead and it almost seemed destined for disaster.

Planning needed to be done. There was no need for Allen to lose control over what was happening in his own life just because some friends wanted to help. Ivy just hoped that Allen would accept the help, because who knows just _what_ Lavi would do then.

Ivy took a deep breath to steady herself. There was no need to work herself up this early in the game. She still hadn’t even talked to the Brit, for goodness’s sake! It probably would have been best to talk to him after school today, but she didn’t want to interfere with any plan he may have already had. Ivy would just send him a text that night to see when he was free tomorrow and meet up with him then.

“What’s wrong?” a gruff voice asked from the doorway. Ivy looked up to see Kanda walking into the room, shutting the door behind him. While his tone was usually softer when he was just talking to her, Kanda was still as blunt as always. Ivy probably should have wished that he would be a bit kinder since they were dating, but she knew that wasn’t something she really wanted.

She had fallen for him just the way he was. There was no reason for him to change just because they had decided to be in a relationship together.

“Nothing, why do you ask?” Ivy said, shaking her head. A small ponytail bounced back and forth with the movement. It was getting long enough to justify cutting it, but she wasn’t sure if that’s what she wanted anymore. She had meant to ask Kanda how he would feel about her growing it out, but hadn’t gotten the opportunity to ask.

“You’re chewing your nails.” Kanda sat down at the table, getting books out of his bag. Ivy pulled her hand away from her mouth, blushing at the fact. “You only do that whenever something’s bothering you or you’re thinking about something difficult. So what is it?”

For a moment, Ivy considered saying that the issue was one of the many homework assignments stacked up in front of her. Kanda probably didn’t want to hear about anything about what Lavi was up to, so there was no point in telling him about the problem. Aside from the fact that that she didn’t want to lie about it, it would be far too easy to see through anyway.

At the risk of sounding cocky, there wasn’t any real way she would have trouble with the homework anyway. Working on it together with Kanda had just been an excuse to spend time with him from the very beginning.

“Three points,” Ivy conceded, turning her chair to better face Kanda. The Japanese teen had started writing answers on one of his worksheets, but stopped at the sound of her voice. Ivy tried to think of a good way to break the news to him, then realized there was no good way to break news about Lavi Bookman to Kanda Yu unless the former was terribly injured. The blunt option would have to do. “I decided to help Lavi out with a little side project of his.”

“You what?” Kanda said. It looked like the pencil in his hand was about to break he was holding onto it so hard. Sadly, it looked new enough that he had broken a different pencil earlier in the day. Equally sadly, this was quite the common occurrence. For the sake of Kanda’s sanity and school supplies, Ivy decided to run damage control.

She put her hand on top of Kanda’s. His muscles slackened ever so slightly. “Calm down, Yu-kun, I haven’t even told you what we’re doing. Hear me out,” Ivy said. The look on his face told her he didn’t particularly _want_ to hear her out about Lavi’s plans, but he was willing to do so anyway. “Lavi was going overboard, saying that he was going to try and help Allen-san out with his romance issues.”

“Beansprout has romance issues,” Kanda deadpanned. He looked about as convinced as he did at anything else that sourced from Lavi, which wasn’t a whole lot. If you could be negative convinced, Kanda Yu would certainly be a master of it.

Ivy smiled, trying to lessen the tension. “Yes, I was surprised, too. I was certain that he and Lenalee had already been going out for several months—sorry, this isn’t the point.” She cut off both for her sake and Kanda’s. If she started talking about who was dating who to her boyfriend, there would be some serious readjustment of priorities going on in the near future. “Apparently there’s some sort of love triangle going on between Allen-san, Lenalee, and Ari-san, and Lavi wants to fix it.”

Kanda looked like he had just smelled something disgusting. Alternatively, he appeared as if a bug had flown up his nose. Ivy didn’t blame him; she had felt the same way when Lavi had approached her on the topic.

“The point is that I agreed to help him out in solving the problem,” Ivy continued. “Although I can’t say that if the situation is even a problem at all. If anything, everything seems under control and Lavi is only going to make things worse by sticking his nose into it. So I said I would help because—”

“I don’t like it,” Kanda said. As if she hadn’t seen that reaction coming from the day she was born. As difficult as he was to manage at times, Kanda could really be predictable when it came to certain things, like arguing with Allen and his opinion on rabbits.

“I said to let me finish,” Ivy chided, holding a finger in front of Kanda’s face. “You keep this up and I’m taking away your points.” He blinked at the sudden proximity of the digit, but kept his mouth shut. “All I’m going to be doing is monitoring Lavi so he doesn’t run out of control. If I can keep things in check then I won’t even have to go out and do anything at all. Everything will stay the way it is, and we can focus on us, alright?”

Kanda paused, the slight twitch of his brow letting Ivy know he was trying to think of a proper response. A direct objection to what paused, the slight twitch of his brow letting Ivy know he was trying to think of a proper response. A direct objection to she was planning, no doubt. “It’s like you’re fucking babysitting him,” he said. Apparently he wasn’t able to justify a way to only say no and have it hold water. “I know you mean well, but that doesn’t mean you can just make the Rabbit do nothing at all. That’s fucking impossible.”

“So I’m not going to stop him. I think I’ve seen enough of what Lavi can do to understand that.” Ivy shrugged. “I guess it’s kind of like babysitting, but if that’s what it takes to keep things steady, fine. Instead of stopping him entirely, I’m just eliminating the chance that something big will happen and screw everything up. I’m also doing it so he’ll leave _you_ out of it.”

Ivy poked Kanda in the chest, which probably did more damage to her finger than him. It was obvious there were muscles under there, and Ivy wondered when exactly he had time to work out before realizing that it didn’t matter right now.

“I—no, that’s wrong. I just—We—You—I want—” Kanda stumbled over the beginnings of a few sentences, trying to find the right words. When he couldn’t get a good start, he lowered his volume, muttering to himself. Ivy smiled, slipping her fingers into his while he was distracted.

“I know, Yu-kun,” she said. “I get that this is something new and that you don’t know how to say that you don’t want me running around with Lavi all the time when we could be spending time together. I get that. So I promise that if you think this is taking up too much of my time then you can tell me, and I’ll cut back on it.” Ivy giggled a bit, even though it seemed out of place. “You can be as rude about it as you want, too. I really don’t mind. If I spend too much time with Lavi who knows what will happen to my common sense.”

Kanda sighed. “If you start calling me ‘Yu-pon’ I think that’s where this relationship will have issues surviving,” he said. Ivy only laughed again.

“I’ll resist the urge.”

Kanda leaned forward, putting his free hand on the back of Ivy’s head. She blushed, but moved into the kiss. They stayed like that for a few moments. When they pulled back, Kanda could say he felt a lot better about the situation, even if it was a bad idea.

He was letting his girlfriend spend large amounts of time with Lavi. “Bad idea” didn’t exactly cover it. “A terrible mistake” seemed better, or maybe “completely insane.” Kanda preferred to keep things simple and just refer to the whole thing as “really fucking stupid.”

Ivy was smiling at him.

Okay, so that part of this whole mess wasn’t so bad.

“Can I ask something, though?” Ivy said. Her cheeks were still dusted with pink, but otherwise she seemed fine. Kanda nodded his consent. “To be honest, I really don’t feel like I’m prepared to go through with this. I really don’t know Ari-san that well, so I really can’t be of much help in that division so… Would you mind telling me more about her?”

Kanda didn’t know exactly what else he could say about Ari that Ivy didn’t already know, but he figured he could give it a shot. Besides, talking about it could lead to some other topic, which could easily lead to spending time together. Kanda didn’t know if he could handle other people for the rest of the day, though, so that was really just all the reason to invite Ivy over to his place for a while.

You couldn’t say Kanda Yu wasn’t a clever bastard. That just wouldn’t be true.

Ivy looked at him expectantly. She was ready, it seemed, still leaning slightly forward on the table. She was also leaning over the papers she had spread out, reminding Kanda of his own folder of assignments in his bag. It suddenly dawned on him that they had been meeting up to do homework together, not to talk about whatever Lavi was planning and how it would affect their relationship.

Kanda sighed again. He tended to sigh a lot when he was thinking about the rabbit.

“I don’t mind talking about this,” Kanda said, and Ivy’s smile was almost enough to make him change his mind from what he was going to say next. Practicality—otherwise known as Stick in the Mud Syndrome—kept him on course. “Let’s just get out homework out of the way first. It’s kind of a long story.”

* * *

Lavi pulled a tissue out of the box stationed on the side of his desk, blew his nose, tossed the tissue into the near overflowing trashcan with its brethren, and got back to work. Miraculously, he had been able to find an empty notebook in the recesses of the house, and was now filling it up with ultra-brilliant brainstorming plots for whenever he and Ivy started to assist Allen into the wonderful world of dating.

He knew he shouldn’t be getting his hopes up this much. There was every chance that Allen would turn down the offer, try to manage things on his own. Lavi could respect that. It took some serious courage to try and date two girls at once, except in Allen’s case it was more of a politeness to discover how he felt about said girls before getting their hopes up. In some ways that took more courage than the first option, what with defying stereotypes and all. The Brit definitely earned some mad props for that.

Of course, there was also the option that the Brit would agree—and seriously, why wouldn’t he?—and Lavi couldn’t just go unprepared into that conversation! Sure, he was a brilliant improviser and could think of plans on the fly like a motherfucker, but preparation was always best. Already Lavi had made it halfway through his notebook in one afternoon, and it was filled with pure gold. Sure, some of the ideas weren’t his best, but those could be filtered out and his true genius could shine through. It was perfect.

There was also the option that either Ivy and-slash-or Allen would look at his ideas and throw them all out, but Lavi chose not to acknowledge that option as a possibility.

There was a knock on his door, and Lavi spun his chair around to see Ari entering the room. She was carrying a bowl of soup on a tray, and Lavi’s stomach audibly made it known that he was hungry. He blew his nose again, hoping it would return some of his sense of taste to him.

Ari didn’t seem near as happy as her brother. While she crossed the room and put the soup on the desk, she was frowning at Lavi the entire time. At this rate, the rabbit wondered if it was even safe to touch the food he was being given or if its chef’s sour attitude was enough to poison it. Tentatively, he took a spoonful.

It was wonderful.

“What’s wrong, sister dear?” Lavi asked, trying to take the minimal amount of time to speak so he could resume eating. The soup was exactly what he had needed, even though in medical terms it only made it easier to breathe as opposed to any real cure for the cold, but he could deal with that. Breathing properly was always good.

“You should be resting,” Ari said. “I know you don’t _actually_ have to do your homework, so you have no reason to be out of bed, Nii-san.” It was moments like these that made Lavi think that Ari was somehow channeling their mother despite never meeting her.

Lavi blew on his spoon in an effort to avoid burning the inside of his mouth. It was impressive that Ari had managed to walk it down to his room without losing any of the heat. “Come on, Sis, I feel fine.”

“If you feel so fine then I guess I don’t have to cook you soup anymore, huh?”

“No please anything but that!” Lavi’s dramatic tendencies ended up working against him. Not only did Ari have an excuse to continue to scold him, his grab for his soup bowl to try and prevent her from taking it away only ended in some of the broth splashing onto his arm and notebook. “Crap!” Ignoring his own injury, Lavi tried to scoop up his hard work and dry it out before any of his writing was rendered illegible.

Ari raised an eyebrow, trying to read what she could off the notebook being flailed throughout the air. While such a thing would be impossible for a mere mortal, the brain of a Bookman was far superior. Lavi would have been proud of his sister if the ability she possessed wasn’t one that could unravel the plan before it started. He settled on a feeling of mortal terror instead.

“What are you even working on, anyway?” Ari asked. Lavi snapped the notebook shut, hearing the pages squelch together in the process. He winced, then pulled the book away from his sister’s hands as she tried to grab it. “Mou, come on, Nii-san, lemme see!”

“Absolutely not!” Lavi retorted, standing up. Despite Ari’s insistence that he rest, she was making exert plenty of energy on avoiding her. The notebook flapped helplessly through the air, and Lavi found himself on the receiving end of wrestling techniques that he was pretty sure were illegal in official league matches. Something about putting the other wrestler’s life in danger.

“Come on, Nii-san, why not?” The siblings spun around, one of their free arms knocking over a pile of books Lavi had set up as reading material.

“Cause it’s top secret!” Lavi had to resist the urge to add ‘no girls allowed,’ mostly because it was untrue and he had gotten over that phase years ago. Technically Ari was the only person at the moment not allowed to see, but he couldn’t say it was because she was his little sister either. He had to maintain a reputation as a cool older brother after all.

“That’s not fair!” Ari almost whined, jumping onto her older brother’s back. The sudden weight combined with a comedic placed book caused Lavi to lose his balance, toppling over into a fall. At the last minute, he was able to tuck the notebook under his stomach, keeping it safe while he was still technically prone. “Hmph! Fine, keep your secret, Nii-san! Just go to bed after you eat, alright?!”

With that angrily delivered piece of caring advice, Ari stood up and exited the room.

There was the corner of more than one book digging into his side, the fall had dislodged a large ball of mucus out of his lungs, the secret was safe, cat firmly secure in bag, he had managed to resolve the situation before his soup had gotten cold, and there was a headache forming behind his left eye.

_Brilliant_.

Lavi sat up, popped some pills, ate his soup, and got back to work, passing out at his desk sometime later that night.


	19. 19. Preparation Shouldn't Be This Difficult

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

19\. Preparation Shouldn’t Be This Difficult

* * *

Ari Bookman was seriously having mixed feelings at the moment. Her brother—stupid, idiotic, and lovable as he was—was doing the one thing she had hoped he would never do: meddle in her love life. It was part of the reason she had slipped away to France, to keep away from that phase where she would be growing up and Lavi would be in a panic because his baby sister wasn’t quite so much of a ‘baby’ anymore. And while she had been able to avoid _that_ particular crisis, it seemed that she had come back before Lavi would see her as an adult.

Well, that and France was _awesome_. Who would waste such an opportunity when they had such a natural gift for French (and just about every other language out there but that’s not the point)?

Whoa, back up there. I suppose it’s worth an explanation as to how Ari happens to know about this when the whole plan is a Lavi Class Super Duper Level Secret. That, my friends, is easy.

In the morning, Lavi had been sleeping like a log, the likes that could only be woken up by a large number of kicks to the person in question. Kanda would have been disappointed for missing such an occasion. Normally, Ari would have gotten right to work on such a task, but the last night’s events had made her suspicious. So, with not much difficulty, she slipped the notebook out from under her snoring brother’s head, wiped the drool off, and started skimming its contents.

Sure, it was technically snooping, but he deserved it after not going to bed last night. It was only fair.

Thus, Ari knew everything, as well as some things she really wished she didn’t know. If Ivy was helping out, Ari felt safe in knowing that most of the plans would go into the trash, but that really wasn’t the concern. The fact of the matter was that Lavi was trying to hook Allen up with two girls at once, and one of those girls just happened to be Lenalee.

Part of her wanted to be proud of her brother. It seemed as if he had at least grown up enough to understand that playing favorites over his sister wasn’t fair, but Ari selfishly wished that Lavi would put things in her favor. Lenalee was already older, taller, and popular. Didn’t the Chinese girl have enough advantages as it was?

Exasperated, Ari slammed her locker shut and headed down the hall to her next class. She had tried sitting down at lunch with everyone else but couldn’t bring herself to relax. Even though she was sitting beside Allen, and Lenalee seemed to be acting the same as always, Ari just felt suspicious about every move they were taking. She had eventually had to fake feeling tired and went to the Nurse’s office to lie down. She had taken a nap, but in the end had realized that she had left Allen alone with Lenalee for the entire lunch period.

Smooth.

Now she was going to have to figure out what to do to make things work out. If she could figure out what plan they were going for in the first place, she could prepare so that it would make the situation end in her favor. It shouldn’t be hard, considering she had memorized all of Lavi’s rough draft plans before waking him up by sticking his head under the shower. Even so…

What was she supposed to do if they did something that Lavi hadn’t come up with? That seemed perfectly likely with Ivy’s apparent practicality. If she knew the older Japanese girl better, Ari might just have a better shot at figuring things out. Considering she had just met Ivy a few weeks ago, the required level of understanding wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. If anything, the scenarios just might give Lenalee the advantage.

Ugh, this was so unfair! Why couldn’t Lavi just keep his nose out of it? Ari was going to teach her darling brother a lesson after this whole fiasco was over. No point in making a big deal over something before it even started. No, let him get complacent with the idea that he could get away with something like this first. He’d never see it coming, then.

Ari sat down in her seat, trying to figure out what she was going to do. While there seemed to be plenty of options for what to do, none of it seemed like it would be properly effective in the long run.

Ari sighed. “Oh, who am I kidding? There’s only going to be one thing that’ll actually work here…”

The bell rang as she prepared herself for what she needed to do.

* * *

There are times when a flashback may seem necessary, and this may be one of them. But because you’re a busy reader and really don’t need to know all the nitty gritty details that lead to this moment, we’ll condense things for you and only make it so that you need to look at a few select text messages sent from Ivy to Allen, around the same span of time Lavi was getting soup poured over his notes (the intentionality of this action is still up to debate).

_-Ivy: Hey, Allen, there’s something important I need to talk to you about. Can you meet up with me after school tomorrow?  
-Allen: Sure._

Short, sweet, to the point. In a few successive texts, the two teens agreed to meet up in Komui’s classroom. While this may seem like an unlikely place for the discussion that was going to happen, it did have its benefits. As a precaution to protect his darling little sister from—ahem—“all those horny teenage bastards,” Komui had long instituted a policy of driving Lenalee home after school as soon as possible, so he wouldn’t even be there. In addition, no student at Black Order High in their right mind (as well as out of it) would go to the room without being forced to. It was perfect.

Allen, however, was a bit skeptic. The Brit could appreciate the fact that Ivy wanted to talk in private because it was important, but _still_. There were other places in the school for that! What could be so important that it had to be discussed in _Komui Lee’s_ classroom? With what Lavi had brought up the other day about trying to get into a relationship with Lenalee, he didn’t want to be anywhere near this place. Komui probably already knew what was going on and had set up traps to decapitate or seriously injure the Brit the second he was least expecting it.

 _Whoa there, Allen, take it easy_ , said Brit thought to himself, reminding himself to breathe normally. _You’re just still paranoid because Lavi got you all worked up yesterday. There’s nothing even going on. Everything’s fine. You have nothing to worry about._

However, the memory of a crazy automatic vacuum cleaner named Komlin 0.5 that had been set on him the first time he had visited Lenalee at her house and a strange foreboding feeling were telling him otherwise.

“Are you feeling okay, Allen-san?” a voice asked, causing Allen to jump. Ivy walked into the classroom and closed the door, locking it for good measure. For a second, Allen’s stomach disappeared. What if Ivy was actually in league with Komui this whole time and was going to lead Allen to his death in the back closet of the science room? The white-haired boy took a step back, causing Ivy to raise an eyebrow. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’. Lavi didn’t get you sick, did he?”

“Don’t say things like that!” Allen whined, burying his face in his hands. Said hands had been washed nearly fifty times since Lavi had started sneezing in his general direction. If anybody else brought up being sick, he was going to the hospital, rational decision or not.

Ivy laughed, sitting on the desk at the front of the room. “Sorry, sorry, couldn’t help myself,” she said. “I’m sure you’re a perfectly healthy boy for your age, despite Lavi’s surprisingly shitty immune system. Even if you weren’t, I would have to ask you to put your paranoia aside for a moment as you know we have something very important to discuss right now.”

“Yeah, what was that about?” Allen asked. He sat down on one of the tables in the front row. From this perspective, it looked like Ivy was the teacher, and Allen was a student in for the weirdest lecture ever, which was saying something in a world where Komui is an educator. “You didn’t say much in your text, so I couldn’t really figure out what was going on. Is everything alright?”

Ivy pursed her lips, starting to twirl her hair around a finger. “Yes and no. In the traditional definition of something being wrong, everything’s fine. But in our group with the standards it has, not really.”

Allen knew exactly what the words between the lines were on that one. _Because we’re friends with Lavi._ He groaned.

“Lavi, why?” he asked, except the question was directed at the ceiling. It had to be about Lenalee and Ari, it just had to be. Allen was suddenly glad that they had locked the door. Saying Lavi’s name was just asking the redhead to show up and cause trouble. “Please tell me he isn’t doing anything with my love life. Please, Ivy, I don’t think I could take it.”

Sensing Allen’s desperation, Ivy bit her lip, still slipping her hair around her finger. She really wanted to tell him what he wanted to hear—not to worry because Lavi wasn’t doing anything and she had something completely different to tell Allen, _honest_ —but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Even though she could just lie to Lavi and say Allen had turned down the offer, there was no guarantee things wouldn’t get worse from there on.

Who knew what Lavi would do once he found out the plan hadn’t worked out. The chaos would be unpredictable, even for the people who were closet to him. Ivy shuddered at the thought, and even Allen seemed to catch the drift.

“Long story short,” Ivy said, speaking quickly in an attempt to get the bombshell out of the way as soon as possible, “Lavi seems to think that you need help with picking whether or not you want to date Lenalee or his sister. All things considered, I thought it was unfair that he was going to repeat what he did with me and Kanda, so I told him I would help only if we answered to you.”

Allen blinked, a rather confused expression on his face. “Answer to me?” he asked.

“Yes.” Ivy sighed, pushing her bangs out if her face. “We’ll only help you if you agree to let us, you will know all plans ahead of time, you will approve strategies that you’re comfortable with, and we will go in the direction you want. Anything we say can be viewed as a suggestion, including this offer.” She exhaled, catching her breath. She hated having to sound professional when talking to her friends. Something about it was just plain wrong.

“Listen Allen,” she tried again, voice softer. “I’m really half-assed on this. I don’t think it’s an option you should have to go through with. As someone that’s been on the receiving end of things before, I wouldn’t blame you if you turned me down right now. But I really think this is the best way to control Lavi, so it’s what I’ve decided to do. That and you helped me a lot, Allen-san. I want to do the same for you.”

There was a lot to the speech—implications of controlling Lavi (insert obligatory laughter here) aside—and Allen paused to take it in. Ivy drummed her fingers across the desk while she waited, the light sound breaking the silence of the room. The Japanese girl kept her eyes on her British friend. He was seriously deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed and forehead the tiniest bit wrinkled.

It was almost cute, if Allen was your type. Maybe she should take a picture of him and give it to whichever girl he didn’t date as a consolation prize.

 _No, this isn’t a competition, Ivy, get it together!_ Ivy shook her head to clear the thought out. This was a proposal! Not a marriage one, but still something pretty important. There was no time to let her competitive instincts get in the middle of a fight that wasn’t even hers!

“Alright,” Allen said, bringing Ivy back into the moment.

“Alright?” she questioned.

“Alright,” he repeated. “I’m okay with you and Lavi helping me. Well, mostly you, but you know.” Allen chuckled, and Ivy laughed softly along with him. “Just know that I intend to pull out of this the second anything starts to go bad, okay?”

Ivy nodded. “Okay, that’s settled, then.” She slipped off the desk and headed for the door. “I’ll let you know when we start planning things. I’m sure that Lavi will want to have a huge party about it or something. Good luck, Allen-san.”

With a flick of her wrist, the Japanese girl unlocked the door and opened it, heading down the hallway to go home. Lavi could wait until tomorrow for the good news. While things had gone well for what she had wanted to do, the fact was that they would actually have to go through with the plan now, whatever that was. Reasonably so, Ivy felt nervous.

“If anything starts to go bad, huh…?” she said to herself.

Wasn’t that how things always were between them?

* * *

Reasonably, Allen felt a bit conflicted. There was this logic in the back of his brain—the one that let him pass school, not end up and jail, and, most importantly by a long run, survive Cross whenever he decided to actually show his drunken face at the house—that was telling him that he shouldn’t have let Lavi anywhere near this. And if it was an instinct that let him survive for fifteen long years, maybe he should properly listen to it.

Sure, there were plenty of things he could say that could give the situation logic: like that maybe Ivy would be able to reign in La—oh, who was he kidding? Lavi was going to make this so much worse on so many levels. To top things off, Allen wasn’t even sure if he felt close enough to either Lenalee _or_ Ari to even think dating them counted as something he wanted.

Yes, Lenalee was pretty and smart. Who wouldn’t have a crush on her? Not to mention she had been his first friend when he had transferred into the school even though she was an upperclassman, showed him around the school, gave him tips on how to deal with teachers, and introduced him to the current group of friends he was in now. That sort of thing had to count for something or other when you started liking someone.

On the other hand, Ari had about the same definition as Lenalee, minus a year in the age department. But that didn’t really count for much considering that Ari was a walking encyclopedia of everything ever, just like her brother, and was always up to carrying a conversation if necessary. When Allen had felt awkward adjusting to actually having friends in his own age bracket after years of traveling, Ari was always willing to talk like it was no big deal to fill up the chance of any awkward silence whatsoever.

They were both good choices, and Allen didn’t think he could choose. He was still trying to get over the fact that he _had_ to choose. As far as the white-haired boy had been concerned, the two girls were his friends. How was he supposed to catch onto the fact that they both had crushes on him in a situation like that?

Maybe he was dense. Maybe he was hopeful that he could do nothing and nobody’s feelings would get hurt and life would move on as normal. If had refused the offer, maybe Lavi would have kept his word and stepped back. Maybe Ivy would have Kanda beat the redhead into a pulp for not complying to the deal, or even just do it herself. Except Allen had the sinking feeling that leaving it alone would only come back to bite him like Cross’s breath smelling like alcohol did to your nose when you walked in the room.

And he knew for a fact that telling both girls that he only wanted to be friends without even trying to understand his feelings was quite possibly the worst thing he could do.

Allen heaved a heavy sigh, slipping his backpack out of his locker. He would think about it way too much, so he should give his brain a break for now. He would walk home, do his homework, play with Timcampy, take a soak in the tub and—

Sprawled on the floor in front of him was the unconscious form of Lavi.

* * *

Lavi, for all his good intentions, needed to learn how to stop going at full force at times. While he normally would have been an indestructible force of energy at any other time, there were certain things that needed to be accounted for, including but not limited to the fact that he had stayed up pulling an almost perfect all-nighter working on said notebook of plans while sick, which had led to him pulling through the school day on significantly less effort than usual, and in the end he simply ran out of energy and collapsed while trying to get into his car and drive home.

Okay, it was really a blessing that he _had_ passed out before he got to his car, what with the risk for crashing and all, but it was still kind of embarrassing to have to admit that he had fallen asleep while walking down the hall. The redhead was certain that had never happened to him before.

When he woke up, he had no idea where he was, let alone important facts like what time it was and how long he’d been out. His vision was blurry and everything was white, which opened up the realm of speculation for plenty of things, like maybe he had been abducted by aliens. Someone like Kanda would scoff at the suggestion, but Lavi knew better. Sure, everything science related and the government made it very clear that they didn’t exist. Lavi would have fallen for it if the Old Panda hadn’t left one of his files for work lying around the house. That on top of the fact that the idea of humans being the only sentient beings in existence in an ever-expanding universe was just ridiculous was decisive evidence enough.

They may not be coming, but they were _out there_.

The more logical conclusion was that he was in the nurse’s office, which was significantly less cool as well as possibly more dangerous. Lavi had been doing his best to avoid the place ever since he had been forced to go there in middle school for a bloody nose and some bruises Kanda had given him. The fact that the same nurse had followed them up to high school only made his distaste grow. He’d rather be stuck with Komui treating his injuries instead.

No, no. That was going way too far. A clear sign that he wasn’t even thinking straight. He needed to get a grip on himself and get out of here before things got worse than being stuck in here. The last thing he needed was the school nurse giving him a checkup and kicking him out of the school for a few days because he was ‘unsanitary.’ He didn’t care if she had a degree, he had the same level of knowledge as she did, possibly more, and he could go to school with a common cold without causing an epidemic. Normally he would have taken the opportunity to sit around at home, but there was work that needed to be done before then, which he should probably be getting out of here to get back to work on.

Or maybe not.

Maybe he would stay here and let the pretty new nurse’s aide take care of him. Even with Lavi’s impaired vision at the moment, he could tell that she was gorgeous. She was staring at him, checking over his condition, eyes filled with concern. He vaguely wondered how old she was and decided it didn’t matter. He was eighteen, so everyone was fair game for now as long as they weren’t too far out of his age bracket.

“So, you come here often?” he lamely supplied. Man, he was out of it. Time to brush up on those pick-up lines. He was graduating at the end of this year and he would need to be ready to astound the college women with his knowledge, looks, and whit. It would probably help out Allen, too, if he agreed—no, _when_ he agreed to the situation. Lavi just hoped that Ivy was ready to talk to him soon with the weekend fast approaching.

“No, Lavi, I don’t. Can you stop spouting nonsense for a second so we can talk about this whole plan of yours?”

Lavi yelped as he sat up, sending the pang of an impending headache throughout his skull. Man, he would definitely need the meds for that soon enough and he wondered if he could sneak them out of the nurse’s office without causing some sort of drug scandal. More importantly, he focused on rubbing his eye out, blinking a few times to ensure that he cleared his vision. Sure enough, Allen was sitting in front of him.

“Ah, I see you saw through me right away!” Lavi exclaimed. “I figured as much, but a prank like that isn’t enough to fool you, Allen! So next time, you should prepare yourself for something the likes of you won’t even be able to handle! That is, if you can even see it coming…” The redhead waggled his fingers mysteriously as the British boy directed a deadpan stare at him. Lavi laughed, hoping his nervousness didn’t show through.

It wasn’t that out there to think that Allen was a girl, was it? The younger boy wasn’t exactly a throne of masculinity, with his round face and wide eyes. Looking at him from the back you might even mistake him for a girl, and there was no mistake anyone that looked at him from a distance would probably think the same thing, especially if they couldn’t see straight. Lavi’s error was totally valid.

Allen shook his head, not even giving a response to the previous comment. “Okay, Ivy and I just talked about this, so I figured I should let you know that I accepted your offer.”

Lavi could have shouted for joy, jumping up and performing the infamous Lavi dance in that very moment. Instead the pounding in his head made him settle for a fist pump instead. He had known it, just _known_ it. His Lavi senses had never sent him astray before, and now they had given him the exact outcome of the situation. All his hard work was not going to be in vain!

“Now, before you say anything else, I need to set some things straight,” Allen continued. Lavi nodded, although less enthusiastically than usual. Not wanting to ruin the moment, the redhead kept his mouth firmly shut as had been requested. The British boy’s gray eyes were hard. “I’ve seen just what you can do firsthand from how you handled Ivy and Kanda’s relationship. While I appreciate your enthusiasm, that’s not what I need. I want something more natural, something that comes out of two people realizing they like each other and are okay with it, not some crazy romantic comedy from hell scenario. I know you and Ivy talked about this, so I expect you to go through with it. I don’t get much normal in my life, Lavi. I’ve never really gotten a chance for that. Normal is all I want.”

Allen leaned back in his chair a little, posture relaxing. Lavi could see the faintest traces of blushing on his friend’s cheeks. Allen took a deep breath before opening his mouth again.

“Yeah, and, well, thank you. For caring enough to help me and stuff.”

It was possibly the least graceful sentence Lavi had ever heard Allen say, and that only made it more adorable. Whichever one of the girls Allen ended up with—no, _anybody_ that ever got the privilege of being able to date Allen Walker, regardless of if they were Ari or Lenalee or somebody none of them had even met yet, was officially going to be the luckiest sucker of all time for getting such an amazing guy as their boyfriend. It almost made Lavi regret that he was straight, except he remembered all the girls out there and felt better. Even if either of them were gay, Allen deserved better than Lavi anyway.

That still didn’t dampen the redhead’s excitement, though. He wanted to throw a party right fucking there in the nurse’s office, except he wasn’t in the mood to get Allen suspended and there was a serious lack of streamers in the immediate vicinity to set the mood. He supposed that rolls of gauze could be used as substitutes, but that seemed a bit morbid. Maybe Halloween next year. And besides, if Ari caught onto the fact that her brother was trying to celebrate in any extravagant way possible, she’d probably strap him down to the bed and use one of the Old Panda’s acupuncture books to make her brother fall asleep properly.

“Don’t worry, Brit, you won’t regret this!” Lavi exclaimed. He almost hugged the other boy but resisted because he could still feel the mucus lodged in his skull, making his headache worse. “I solemnly swear that I will fulfill your wishes and give you the most normal romantic experience of your life!”

Allen’s face had lost its embarrassment, but he still seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea. If only Lavi had a sense of how everybody else in the world seemed to consider his presence in their lives, then maybe he would understand why. At least the younger boy was smiling, though, which meant that Lavi had said enough to be reassuring. That was really all he needed for his mission in life right now.

“Ah, here you are. I was wondering where you went,” a voice commented. The door to the nurse’s office opened, revealing Ari. With a pang of guilt, Lavi suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be driving his sister home and had passed out from exhaustion instead. It was a good thing that the younger Bookman had her permit, otherwise they’d both be stuck for a while. Despite this problem, Ari seemed happy, her eyes focused on the male in the room that wasn’t her brother. “And you found Lavi, that’s good. Do you think we could talk in private for a bit, Allen-san?”


	20. 20. TRIangular: The Name's the Most Important Part

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

20\. TRIangular: The Name’s the Most Important Part

* * *

“Welcome, lady and gentle-Brit, to the first meeting of the New _Not_ SSGTIK!” Lavi declared. They had returned to the garage where everything had started, and the original SSGTIK had been formed. Strange to think that it had only been three months ago that this whole mess had started…and look at them now, back at it again. Man, this whole situation was just bringing up memories! Lavi might actually cry.

Allen, on the other hand, was just about as impressed as he was the last time he had been here, and just as insistent to have nothing to do with Lavi’s couch. He didn’t care if the garage was a bit colder and might have tamed the damn thing. Nothing could convince him to ever go back there again.

It was pointless to try and go back inside, though. Apparently having two Bookman siblings in the house and a couple of holiday deliveries from their guardian later, and the house had become as messy as always. All of the hard work before Christmas had been wasted.

Allen could have also cried, albeit for different reasons than his redheaded friend.

“Um, the New Not SSGTI— _What_?” Ivy asked. Allen wasn’t sure if he should have felt bad for her confusion, or wary because she had seemingly tamed the couch in the same way that Lenalee had.

“An excellent question, Ivy-chan!” Lavi declared, wielding what appeared to be the same stick from the snowball fight and pointing it in Ivy’s direction. The Japanese girl blinked. “As you know, myself, Lenalee, and Brit here took it upon ourselves to help you and Yu-pon get together. However unnecessary that may have been, we dubbed ourselves ‘The Secret Society for the Get Together of Ivy and Kanda’—or, the SSGTIK!”

“Uh huh,” Ivy deadpanned, looking unimpressed. Allen took a few steps back, settling in a chair against the wall. If this came down to crossfire, there was no way Allen was going to get into the middle of it. He had too much to live for now.

Lavi nodded, crossing his arms and tapping his stick against his chair’s side. “That being said, obviously we can’t be the SSGTIK anymore since you two are together.”

“Oh?” Ivy challenged. There was a dangerous tone in her voice. Allen pressed his back against the chair since he couldn’t scoot back any further. “Is that the only reason, Lavi?”

“And of course I promised to never do something like that again, especially not without permission!” Lavi added on, laughing nervously. Allen couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened. “So, since we don’t have a name yet, I figured New _Not_ SSGTIK would work for now.” Lavi didn’t want to admit it, but even a whole school day hadn’t been enough to come up with the right name. He just hoped he wasn’t losing it.

“Right then.” Ivy leaned back into the couch, and Allen relaxed his posture with her. Even so, she didn’t seem any less dangerous. “Putting that aside, the reason why we’ve gotten together today is that Allen has _asked_ for our _help_ in making progress with his issues. As agreed, we will _only_ become involved when _necessary_ , and will not _interfere_ otherwise.”

Each emphasized word was meant to be a blow to Lavi, and they each hit their mark. Lavi winced at each one, and would have physically recoiled if it weren’t for the fact that Ivy was likely to get even more annoyed if he did. She meant business, and this wasn’t a time to be playing around.

“As I think we’re all aware of since we’re far beyond the educational level necessary to read a calendar,” Ivy continued, “next month is February. As such, Valentine’s Day will be coming up. While it’s definitely not required to figure things out before then, I think it’s a good idea to try and get started on picking someone. Best case scenario, Allen can make a decision and start to take their relationship farther during the holiday.”

Allen swallowed. It was true that Ivy was ambitious and committed, but that was a lot of pressure that she just unloaded on top of him. He had been trying to resolve these feelings for years, and Ivy was effectively now giving him less than a month.

“Hold on a minute,” the British boy interrupted. At least with Ivy here, even if it was her plan, there was a chance his opinion would be properly heard. “Isn’t that a bit too small of a time frame to work with? I really don’t think I can choose by then…”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head off, Brit!” Lavi said, bouncing up from his seat. He closed the distance between himself and Allen’s wall sanctuary in just a few paces. Defenses had been breached. “Leave the thinking to me and Ivy-chan! You just need to focus on keeping your feelings true and making the right decision.”

“Even if he’s rambling like an idiot, Lavi is partially right,” Ivy said.

Lavi finally gave in and doubled over, hand grabbing at his chest. “Ivy-chan, you wound me…” he couldn’t help it. It was too good of an opportunity to miss. Allen could only stare in a mix of fascination and antipathy. You would think he would be used to things like this by now.

Apparently not.

Ivy ignored the redhead’s outburst, smiling at Allen. “Like I said, that’s just a best case scenario, and one that I don’t really expect us to reach,” she assured. “Things usually don’t work out well when people are under pressure, so just focus on understanding your feelings. We’re just here to be a helping hand when you need it. Whether or not this takes a month or a year, we’ll be willing to do what we can.”

The difference in ideologies was astounding. Allen tried to imagine what it would be like if the SSGTIK had been like this, then realized it was impossible. Lavi had just done whatever he wanted without regard for anything else. Ivy wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Thank you,” Allen said, feeling a tiny bit better. He had never been quite so glad to have Ivy on his side.

“It’s no problem at all, Allen-san. Alright, so with that being settled, the first order of business is—”

“We need a name!” Lavi announced, bouncing right back up into a standing position. Allen winced and apologized to his eardrums, even if it wasn’t really his fault. “Like I said earlier, ‘New Not SSGTIK’ says a lot, but it’s a real mouthful. So we should make up a new one to give us something to identify with!”

Ivy didn’t want to identify with this scheme any more than she wanted to tell Komui that she was potentially trying to set up his sister with Allen. She went to protest, but the Brit beat her to the punch.

“Why does it have to matter so much if we have a name or not?” he asked, almost glaring. Ivy couldn’t really call it a glare since his eyes still seemed wide and innocent, even like that. He just wasn’t cut out to be scary. “Why can’t you just think of this as helping a friend and not some secret mission?”

“Be _cause_ ,” Lavi said, dragging out the last syllable of the word far longer than even a valley girl would find necessary, “thinking of it like a secret mission makes it more exciting! It adds to the drama!”

“It’s not _supposed_ to be dramatic, Lavi!” Ivy snapped. She could normally handle Lavi’s antics, but they had _just_ talked about this a few days ago! Even her patience had limits. Kanda would be proud. “This is supposed to be a productive meeting, not a game.”

“No, wait, it’s fine,” Allen said. Ivy almost did a double take in the Brit’s direction. Hadn’t he asked her to keep Lavi under control in the first place? Allen sighed. He didn’t like this any better than Ivy did, but letting Lavi have his way was the only way this conversation was getting anywhere remotely useful. “If you want to give this… _thing_ a name, Lavi, make it quick.”

Lavi grinned and executed a fist pump. It wasn’t like he wasn’t taking this seriously. He totally was! But they were trying to support Allen and shoving him into a tense atmosphere wasn’t going to make this any easier. “I’m on it, Brit!” he said, pacing between the chairs and the somewhat shaky (but fifty percent off!) coffee table he had recently added. Finally, it hit him. “Got it! TRIangular!”

“No offense, Lavi, but what the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”

“And what’s with the unnatural emphasis on the ‘tri’ part?” Ivy asked.

“Hold on, guys, hear me out,” Lavi added. The duo looked collectively unimpressed, but stayed silent nonetheless. The redhead couldn’t stop smiling. This was brilliant! Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner? “I mean, we’re trying to solve a love triangle, right? Plus, there’s _three_ of us, so we’re a _tri_ ad! How’s that sound?”

“Huh, not bad,” Ivy allowed. It was ridiculous, but at least it had some thought to it. “At the very least no one’s going to know what the hell we’re doing if they hear it.”

“And what do you think, Brit?”

Allen nodded in his approval. If Lavi was satisfied, that meant the number of distractions had just gone down by one. That made this situation at least a little bit easier.

“Putting things like that aside, though,” Ivy said, wanting nothing more than to pull the conversation back on track. She had given up her time doing homework with Kanda for this, and this TRIangular business didn’t need to be any more tedious than it was slowly turning out to be. “As I was saying, the first _real_ order of business should be understanding our necessary steps. If the theoretical goal is to make progress by Valentine’s Day, we should look into what our options are in the month until then.”

Allen tried to think. _Necessary steps?_ He hadn’t even begun to seriously think about doing anything about his feelings beforehand, and now he was being dragged into coming up with a step by step battle plan? Having Ivy here was clearly positive, but it looked like it had its downsides as well.

“Well the obvious thing is for Brit to take the girls on a date!” Lavi suggested, and Allen visibly blanched. “Oh, relax, I mean separate dates, not a group date. That’s no way to sort out your feelings at all, and I think Ari might strangle Lenalady if that did happen…”

“I think you’re underestimating Lenalee’s brutality as well, Lavi.” Ivy couldn’t help but feel bored by the exchange. While Lavi’s deduction was correct, the extra tagline wasn’t necessary. Besides, even if Ivy didn’t know much about Ari, she _knew_ you didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of Lenalee’s kicks. “But I do agree with the proposal that Allen-san should start out with taking Ari and Lenalee both on _separate_ dates.”

Lavi seriously nodded so much it was a wonder his brain didn’t get knocked around all over the place. Then again, that would have explained a lot if it were true.

“Right! Now the main focus is to figure out how to ask them out and where to take them. If you don’t have a backup plan, most girls get fussy and bored when you run out of things to do.”

“I’ll ignore your generalization of women for now in favor of saying that a plan is a good idea,” Ivy said, clenched teeth slightly gritting her words.

“Um…” Allen said.

Lavi patted him on the shoulder; the poor boy was obviously confused! “No worries, Brit, we got this,” he assured. “Movies are out.”

“Ugh, definitely. Sure, usually they’re nice, but not on their own. And especially since Allen-san is supposed to be interacting with them, he’ll need to be able to see as much of their personalities as he can.”

“Wait…” Allen tried again.

“So, what? Dinner? Stuff like the park is out since it’s still too cold… Maybe shopping? It’s a bit cliché, but it’s cliché for a reason.”

“Well, I’m sure Lenalee-san might enjoy that,” Ivy said. “You’re going to need to provide most of the base knowledge concerning Ari, though. I don’t know her well enough to guess what she would like to do. I should be able to talk to Lenalee-san if I have to, though…”

“Hold on!” Allen shouted, his calm breaking. Honestly, the point of having Ivy around was so that Lavi _didn’t_ steamroll him. The Brit really should have known better than to think this thing would be easy. “Just wait a minute, you two. Shouldn’t I get a say in this, _Ivy_?”

The girl blinked at the emphasis on her name. At least she had the decency to look embarrassed, unlike Lavi. “Heh, you’re right, Allen-san. Really, we were just brainstorming, so I’m sure whatever input you wanted to add can be taken into account here.”

“Alright, fire away, Brit!” Lavi cheered. He even put his hands together in the shape of a gun. “ _Bang~!_ ”

“Good,” Allen said, smiling a little. At least they could be reined in simply enough. “Now, as I was trying to say—”

“No, no, no, Brit, you gotta give it impact!” Lavi grinned and aimed his ‘gun’ at Ivy. “ _Bang~!_ ” The girl twitched, but didn’t provide a verbal protest. Lavi would probably suffer some form of bodily injury later.

Allen sighed. _Whatever it takes to make him shut up for ten seconds,_ he thought, putting his hands into the proper position. “The truth is we can worry about this stuff later, because I already agreed to go on a date with Ari.” The two others in the room stared, and Allen lazily aimed at them, ‘firing’ with a deadpan “ _Bang_.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Maybe silence was the sound someone’s brain made when it exploded. Then, in perfect unison, Ivy and Lavi let out a harmonized “ _Ehhhhhh?!_ ”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean you got a date already?” Ivy protested. “That’s important, Allen-san. That’s super important! Why didn’t you say anything?”

Allen couldn’t even justify that with a proper response, rolling his eyes. Ivy would probably realize her blunder in time anyway, so there was no point in mentioning just how much she and Lavi could talk when they didn’t regulate themselves.

“More importantly, why didn’t you tell me you asked Ari out?” the redhead interjected. “That’s like my baby sister, man! You can’t just go and not tell me when you wanna go out with her. I need to know these things, I could have helped you out, Brit!”

“That’s because I didn’t ask, she did,” Allen responded.

And now to sit back and wait for that piece of information to sink in, too.

“Ari did?” Ivy asked. Allen nodded, sending the girl back into contemplation. Lavi, on the other hand, wasn’t anywhere near as quiet, flailing about the room, nearly knocking several things over. Allen scooted his chair away from the shelf filled with various snow globes.

Lavi let out an “ _Ehhhhh?!_ ” even more exaggerated than the one before. He sniffed, tears forming in the corner of his eye. “No way! My litter sister’s growing up enough to go on a date and confess her feelings to a boy?!” Most would assume the tears were faked, but Ivy and Allen knew better. Lavi was probably genuinely overwhelmed with emotion. “ _They grow up so fast!_ ” the redhead wailed.

Ivy trained her gaze on Allen. No need to let the new water feature in the room distract her. “Well, that at least gets us off on a good foot,” she said. “Did you make any plans already, or is there just the idea of a date in the air?”

Allen navigated around Lavi to stand by Ivy, a good few feet still between him and the couch. “We already made arrangements. Ari said she had it all planned out,” the British boy reported. Ivy nodded. “We’re going out tomorrow night. She said she saved enough allowance to be able to afford this restaurant called _Millennial_?”

“So soon?!” Lavi exclaimed, his one eye widening. Just how much money was Ari conning out of the Old Panda if she could afford a swanky ass place like that? “Okay, we gotta get ready to provide backup. Ivy and I can get a table on the other side and you can come to us for recon. Man, this would be easier if we had mikes and earpieces, don’t you think?”

“Probably,” Ivy allowed. “But I can’t do that.”

“You can’t?” Allen asked, his heart sinking. He didn’t exactly feel like that much recon was necessary, but if Lavi was going to be staking out the restaurant, Allen wanted Ivy there, too. “Is something wrong?”

“I already have arrangements.” Lavi went to open his mouth, and Ivy silenced it with a glare. “We agreed that this whole affair wouldn’t interfere with my personal life, _correct_ , Lavi?”

The redhead bobbed his head in a nod. “Yup. But can’t you just reschedule your plans? We did promise we would help out Allen.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“ _Because_ ,” Ivy gritted out. Her cheeks were beginning to tint pink and she didn’t like it. “Yu-kun and I are going on a date, and he would never agree to cancel just because of what he’s been seeing as ‘another one of that fucking rabbit’s bullshit schemes’.”

Allen started playing with the fingers of his glove. This wasn’t looking good. At this rate, Lavi would be the only one left, and the redhead would blow the whole thing. Even if Allen wasn’t sure of his feelings, Ari had had the courage to ask him out. He needed to respect that.

So there was only one thing left to do.

“Ivy-san,” Allen said, putting his hands together. Normally he didn’t like doing things like this, but the situation was desperate enough. “Can we work out a compromise? You and Kanda can go on your… _date_ and it can be at the same place as mine and Ari’s. Lavi can handle most of it, but just in case you can serve as backup.”

“Allen-san, I can’t afford—” Ivy tried.

“Lavi and I will pay for it.” The redhead in question turned to look at Allen in shock, who only tried to make it very clear terrible things would happen to Lavi if he argued in a split second. It apparently worked. “So, _please_ , Ivy-san.”

Final touch: puppy dog eyes. Kicked puppy dog eyes. In the rain. Ivy looked at his face for a second too long, turning away with a click of the tongue that sounded a bit too much like Kanda.

“ _Fuck_.”


	21. 21. Friday Morning: Another Beginning

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

21\. Friday Morning: Another Beginning

* * *

Ivy woke up on Friday feeling a lot more stressed out than she should have.

Just the other day, she was feeling giddy about being able to go on a proper date with Kanda, especially one that Lavi had no idea about. The couple had worked hard to keep things a secret, and hopefully this whole Allen/TRIangular thing would have distracted the redhead enough. Now, not only did Lavi know, Allen had pretty much guilt-tripped Ivy into actually having her date in the same location, and Kanda wasn’t exactly the happiest of campers about that whole idea.

Fuck, Millennial was such a high class place, did she even have _clothes_ for that?!

Really, Ivy wanted to scream, but that would only alert her neighbors, possibly the landlord, and then Cloud Nine would get called, and Ivy couldn’t handle that right now. Just could not.

She was actually kind of jealous of Lavi and Kanda. Still being seventeen _seriously_ sucked.

* * *

Taking a hot shower in the morning usually left Allen feeling prepared for the day. Today, not so much. Some part of him still felt an immense panic he figured was usual for teenage boys getting ready to go on dates. The paranoia of things quickly degenerating into something out of a romcom from hell due to his friends’ (read: Lavi’s) antics was probably not unusual.

He tried to breathe to calm himself down. If he was too nervous, Lenalee would definitely catch on and ask what was up. And while her intentions would be those of a good friend, Allen didn’t think he could keep the date a secret if pressed.

Timcanpy chirped from his perch, attracting Allen’s attention. Allen stopped trying to fix his clothes to head over the bird. “Sorry, I didn’t feed you yet,” he said, scratching Tim’s head with one hand and grabbing food with the other. “I’ve just been kind of stressed out here…”

Tim chirped again, hopping onto Allen’s arm. Seriously, he loved that bird. Timcanpy was probably the only good thing that had come out of traveling with Cross all that time. Allen had been pretty young still, but he had managed to pet a wild bird while in Asia, and it had stuck with him ever since. They hadn’t been able to get rid of it, so Cross had given up on the matter, saying that “The damn bird is your responsibility now, Brat.”

Come to think of it, that had been pretty nice given Cross’s standards…

Tim made it up to Allen’s shoulder, nuzzling against the boy’s cheek, still chirping softly. “Yeah, you’re right,” Allen said, still scratching at Tim’s chest. “I just gotta be myself, see if I have fun… One date’s not going to be the end of the world, even if Lavi’s involved. And besides, I’m sure Ari will know how to handle it.”

Allen remembered the snowball fight and reconsidered his options. Ari would probably be just as aggressive as Kanda if anything went wrong, and Lavi just might not survive that one. And that was only considering if Ivy didn’t get involved, too. Allen didn’t think they could possibly ever pay for the damages on that one.

So, for all of their sakes, Allen caved in and released a small prayer.

 _Please, just let tonight not have anything_ too _crazy happen. Can you handle that, God?_

In comparison to a night with no problems whatsoever, that wasn’t too much to ask for. It still might be pushing the limits of a miracle, though, but that was fine. Allen could at least believe in miracles. Kanda and Ivy were enough for that, even though they weren’t the most impressive thing the British boy had seen in his life.

And, like he was praying, too, Timcanpy let out a soft warble.

Allen scratched the bird’s head. “Thanks, Tim.”

* * *

Lenalee navigated the kitchen for breakfast, making sure not to bump into any experiment looking bits in the process. She had tried before, but the fact was that Komui couldn’t be convinced to stop using the dining table as an experiment lab (he even had his own lab room, _seriously_!). The excuse was that he needed his coffee to keep a sharp mind. Lenalee had offered to just move the coffee pot to his lab since she didn’t use it anyway,

_Ah, but coffee pots belong in kitchens, don’t they, my darling sister?_

But robot parts didn’t belong in the lab?

Still, Lenalee could put up with it. She loved how quirky her brother was, even if it was concerning at times. Besides, cleaning up the kitchen had never really helped the situation out, either. It just made the place feel empty.

So pushing aside a pile of gears gently so not to damage them, Lenalee was able to clear out a space for her plate of pancakes so lovingly provided by Komui. Cooking was technically science, after all, and he could at least do this much.

“What’s all this stuff for anyways?” she asked as Komui continued to bustle about. Yes, the kitchen was usually mechanical mayhem, but this was a step up from usual. Stuff was leaking from the table to the countertops, and walking was starting to become an issue. Lenalee would probably spend a chunk of her weekend cleaning up. Ending up in the hospital would be no fun just because one of them tripped, both because and into various metal bits.

“It’s for the Science Club!” Komui answered, almost flipping his own pancake on top of what looked like a sharp piece of metal next to his plate. Okay, that would definitely have to go this weekend, no matter what Komui said. There was a line between mildly dangerous and stupid, even though Lavi seemed to cross it all the time. “We’re having a special project coming up soon, and we need to be prepared. So I’m taking the liberty of gathering supplies up so we can get to work.”

That made sense, if only these supplies would do better at the school than here, then. Lenalee would have to maybe see if her cleaning processes could involve transporting some stuff out of her home. But that wasn’t the concerning part. More importantly…

“Special project?” she asked sweetly. That could only spell disaster. The last “special project” Komui had been working on had led to school being closed for three whole days and a fumigation squad. It was a wonder anyone even went to Black Order High with how many incidents they tended to have on a yearly basis. “Is something special coming up?”

“Ah, ah, ah, my lovely sister,” Komui scolded. Finished cooking his own breakfast, the man toted his plate and coffee mug to the table, sitting at the spot Lenalee had cleared out for him. At least this project just had a lot of metal and no weird substances involved. “We want it to be a surprise. There will be an announcement soon enough, you’ll just have to wait for it!”

Okay, that sounded way more like a potential disaster. A total one at that. While Lenalee could handle most of her brother’s antics (surprisingly, even the overprotective bits), anything that could result in injury was pushing it. This was for the greater good! Somebody at least deserved to know!

And, well, she was curious, but you couldn’t fault her for _that_ …

_Time to use the cute charm._

Lenalee put on her best pout, perfected from childhood and only refined more with age. Komui had always been easy to convince to do things, and pouting was the quickest and easiest. “But Nii-san,” she said, making sure to space out her syllables just right. Not whiny, but disappointed. A hint of curiosity. Komui instantly reacted, pausing in taking a drink of his coffee. “That’s no fair. If I have to live with all this stuff, don’t I at least deserve to know why?”

And cue internal crisis. Loyalty to his club or his sister. Komui’s eye twitched. It would only be a matter of time before he caved. Lenalee cut off a piece of pancake and popped it into her mouth, waiting for the moment when her brother would crack.

“Alright, but you can’t tell anyone,” Komui relented with a wink. Lenalee beamed, putting her fork down and leaning forward, making sure not to smear her top in syrup. She didn’t have time to recoordinate her whole outfit if that happened. “We’re going to be hosting a Robot Fight Club come March. I was going to maybe build a new Komlin, to show the kids what to do.” Lenalee flinched, but at least Komui didn’t see. “But we’ll see.” He raised a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret, though, so you gotta keep it.”

And Komui offered Lenalee his pinky.

She took it, sealing the deal, even though she knew this couldn’t end well.

_Another Komlin…_

Well, at least they had a few months before _that_ particular whirlwind of chaos.

* * *

Even though Lavi could drive, Ari still opted to take the bus.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her brother. Okay, maybe that was part of the issue. But she had been there when Lavi had his learner’s permit, and she had been convinced to sneak out in the car for ice cream more than once. Lavi had known how to not crash and…really, that was the only good thing Ari could remember about those times. That and the ice cream.

Ari would have to seriously get her own permit soon. But not if the Panda was teaching her to drive.

Putting all that aside, though, Ari hopped onto the bus and waved. A few seats down Johnny Gill waved back, and Ari went to sit by him. The boy was part of the Science Club, but he also was part of the Chess Club in his spare time. Ari had checked in on said second club in hopes of finding someone challenging to play besides her brother. Even though no one really could see any many states of the board as the Bookman siblings, Johnny was fun to talk to and a sweetheart to boot.

As an added bonus he was also friends with Allen, but Ari would have hung out with him anyway.

“Someone’s extra bouncy today,” Johnny commented with a smile. Ari could only beam back. Was she not supposed to be in a good mood? She had asked Allen on a date, and he had said yes! There wasn’t anything better than that, not even reading. “So things are all ready for tonight?”

“Mmhmm!” Ari nodded so quickly that her hair went in more directions than it usually did. At least she had tied it back today—less mess to fix up for later. “I double checked the reservation, got a cab, and Allen said he’s all ready to go. I even have the perfect dress that I picked up in France, too. It’s gonna be perfect.”

Sounding like a stereotypical gushing schoolgirl be damned, Ari was going to gush however the hell she pleased. She had expected for Allen to maybe politely turn her down, because that was just how he was. It was the defiance of her expectation that was sending her over the edge.

“Oh, the purple one?” Johnny asked. Ari had sent him plenty of pictures while overseas, and Johnny did have a flair for tailoring. A man of many talents, and all that. Ari nodded for an answer. “That one’s really nice. I’m sure Allen’s gonna love it.”

As if Ari needed anything else to make her chipper as hell today. The redheaded girl rocked back in forth in the seat, looking like she could fall over at any second. “I’m just glad I saved up all my Christmas money,” she said. “Plus I got partially refunded since I didn’t stay my term in France.” Not that the Old Panda needed to know about that, no sir. “Millennial’s an expensive place, but I got it covered.”

Johnny’s eyes might have widened behind his glasses, but it was hard to see with how thick they were. Millennial was easily the most expensive restaurant within the whole town, and most high school kids couldn’t even dream of going there. But Ari had somehow managed it, though Johnny was a bit worried given the size of Allen’s stomach.

“If anyone can manage that, Ari, it’s you.” There wasn’t any point in worrying about her anyway. Ari was resourceful. She could easily handle anything, even if things might get a bit crazy in between. Though just in case… “You know that dress might be a bit hard to move in,” he said, “Want me to come over and make some adjustments?”

Ari grinned. “That’s what I like to hear, Johnny.”

* * *

Lavi could easily drive to school with his eye closed, but most laws and ordinances discouraged that sort of behavior. Still, he made it to the parking lot pretty early and went to head inside, ready to enjoy another breakfast with his friends before getting ready to embark on another mission!

Okay, Allen had asked him to stop calling them that, but Lavi couldn’t help it. This was a mission! A mission…of love!

Corny, yes. But stuff like that didn’t matter. When you were in love, you could be as corny as you wanted. And because Allen tended to be more practical and Ivy had made it clear to stay the hell away from her relationship, Lavi would just have to provide the corniness from a safe distance.

Or maybe less than a safe distance because Kanda was standing in the parking lot, and he was clearly staring at Lavi with less than friendly intentions in his eyes.

Well, if _that_ was how this morning was going to go.

“Yu-pon!” Lavi cheered, waving a gloved hand as enthusiastically as his winter jacket would allow. There was a cloud of air as Kanda exhaled sharply through his nose. That definitely couldn’t be good. Well, if there was anyone that knew how to handle Kanda at his worst, it was Ivy. They had been friends for the longest after all. “I heard you got a date with Ivy-chan tonight, you stud, congratula—”

Kanda grabbed onto Lavi’s jacket, and the redhead winced. It had been some time since he had seen Kanda like this, and that hadn’t been a good time. Really, Ivy had done wonders, even if she hadn’t done much at all.

“You need to watch yourself,” Kanda growled. He didn’t like being this pissed off, but this was steadily working towards his last nerve. Just how much did the Rabbit need to fuck around with his life before Lavi was satisfied? “I’m going along with this because Ivy said she was okay with it, but if I have to have one more date that goes wrong because _you_ decided to get involved, you’re gonna wish you were playing dodgeball instead of what I’m gonna do to you.”

Lavi held up his hands in surrender, but tried to keep his tone light. He may have been out of practice, but dealing with Kanda was like riding a bike—you never forgot if you didn’t want to fall and bust your face on the concrete. “Easy, easy,” he tried. “I’ve got everything covered, Yu-pon. You won’t even have to do anything—this is just assurance.”

Kanda gritted his teeth. Really, how much stupider could this situation get? “That’s what you said before,” he said, almost growling. Getting this irritated was exhausting for him, but there wasn’t much else he could do, not when Ivy was getting behind the Rabbit’s schemes now. “But you see, it never works out that way, does it?” He tightened his grip, and Lavi finally had the sense to look worried.

“H-hey now, Yu-pon, no need for this this…” Man, if only Ivy would come by. Maybe that would save him.

“So what I’m saying,” Kanda continued, dropping into one of his top ten glares (yes, Lavi kept track), “is that tonight better _not_ have any trouble, or else you’re going to be a very fucking unhappy Rabbit. And you won’t be pulling off any ridiculous schemes at _least_ until graduation.” He finally let go of Lavi’s scarf, but the redhead didn’t run. Having a chase scene this early in the morning would only make the rest of the day more exhausting. “Fuck, I’ve gone through too much trouble to not be able to enjoy myself with my girlfriend.”

“I got ya, I got ya,” Lavi said, looking around. Still no one else in the parking lot. Did people not enjoy being on time or something? “I promise, Yu-pon—no _seriously_.” Kanda raised an eyebrow, but not any objections. “I want everything to go perfectly, just like you do.” Like hell he was letting Allen’s love life suffer, not to mention let the Brit give his sister a bad time. “So I’ll be the one to do all the legwork, okay? You leave it to me. I’m your best friend after all.”

Despite his instincts, Kanda’s frustration ebbed a bit, even though his worry seemed to grow. “You know that doesn’t exactly make me feel any better.”

Lavi finally smiled, adding a shrug. “Such little faith, Yu-pon, just like always!” He held up a finger, assuming his “intellectual” pose. “If you can’t believe in the power of friendship, at least believe in the power of love.”

Kanda scoffed, returning his hands to his pockets. “You’re lucky Ivy agreed to this.”

Lavi nodded, his smile stretching into a full blown grin. “I know,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime.”

“She’s _my_ partner, you know.”

Lavi could have cooed. Kanda was getting jealous, how cute. “Of course, Yu-pon, that’s what we worked so hard for!”

Kanda only rolled his eyes and turned to head inside. Enough of this freezing his ass off and intimidation bullshit. He could be irritated inside a heating system. Lavi let him go, glad to see the immediate threat passed. Of course, that was to say nothing of the night to come, but that was fine.

Mad geniuses always worked best under pressure anyways.


	22. 22. Peaceful Progression

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

22\. Peaceful Progression

* * *

If there was one good thing about this date, it was that Ivy actually felt cute for once. She had never really been into the whole dressing up deal, and fashion was way out of her league. In the end, Ivy had decided to put comfort over everything else, so she had worried about having nice enough clothes to even get in the door to Millennial. Fortunately, she had been able to find a nice blouse and dress pants in the back of her closet from some event Cloud Nine had dragged her to. They even still fit, plus she actually looked pretty good since her figure had filled in a bit since then.

Part of her wondered if Kanda would even notice, but she decided not to focus on that.

Okay, there were some other good things, too. Like the fact that Ivy was actually on a proper date with Kanda, even if there was the snag of TRIangular in the background. Plus, Kanda had cleaned up a bit, too, dropping his hair into a lower ponytail and donning a dark blue suit that Ivy hadn’t even known he had. And, well, Millennial was definitely worth the price tag, given that it was everything Ivy had imagined a swanky restaurant to look like dialed up to eleven.

Allen and Lavi had taken care of the reservations bit, and a text from Lavi said that Allen and Ari’s table would be in an observable range. The timing on their reservation meant that Ivy and Kanda would get there first, and Lavi would presumably show up at some point to float around the background. Pushing aside the thoughts of the not-so-secret mission, Ivy smiled at Kanda, reaching across the table for his hand.

“This shouldn’t be so bad,” she said, trying to keep calm. Being the levelheaded one had its disadvantages sometimes, but it was worth it if they actually got to enjoy their evening instead of being pissed off all the time. “I know it’s not an ideal first date, but as long as Lavi doesn’t try to push anything crazy, we’ll be fine.”

Kanda exhaled sharply, his fingers curling to wrap around Ivy’s. “That’s what I’m worried about,” he grumbled. “If there’s anyone that can make this go wrong, it’s him.” Kanda sighed, pushing some hair out of his eyes. “Whatever, I’m not going to think about it while I still can. You…” He paused, and Ivy could have sworn she saw some red in his cheeks. “You look nice.”

This time, Ivy was the one to blush. She had wanted him to notice, but it was a bit different to actually have it happen, especially for him to say it. Still, she had her own opinions on how Kanda looked, so she might as well share them.

“You look nice, too,” she lamely answered. Ah, that was pretty stupid, but it didn’t look like Kanda had minded. It was the truth anyways. “I mean… really nice. I like your hair this way…” Ivy let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “Jesus, how stupid can I sound, right?”

“No, it’s okay,” Kanda said, and he meant it. “I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing either, I just…” He paused, too, figuring it was okay. “I just wanted to do something small, then this got blown way out of the water. Sorry if I’m being a bad date or something.”

Ivy waved her free hand in a _stop_ motion. “No, no, no, it’s not you.” She resisted the urge to say _it’s me_. “I think this is a bit more than either of us bargained for, so we’re not quite sure what to do at all. Let’s just…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. “Let’s take it slow. I mean, if we try to make tonight special, it’s not going to be is it? Right now, I actually just want to spend some time with you.”

Her voice trailed off with a nervous edge that Kanda hadn’t heard from her before. Ivy was usually self-assured, or at least she seemed that way. If she was getting nervous, then it was okay for him to be getting nervous over this, too. “Okay,” he said, lifting her hand in his. Ivy didn’t like him because he was romantic—mainly because _romance_ was a word even Lavi couldn’t concoct a reason to associate with Kanda, save for the inclusion of the words “does not have.” “We’ll make it through this stupid night somehow, and we’ll meet up tomorrow to do homework like always, alright?”

Ivy smiled, and Kanda had to smile back. “Right.”

Now if only they could keep this peace for a while longer.

* * *

Millennial was a bit darker than Allen had expected. Then again, he had only ever heard rumors, and they didn’t really do the place justice. It was closer to a mansion than a restaurant, just slightly compressed. Still, the place looked like a poster image for a movie set in a gothic era ghost story, with possibly less lighting. Allen tried his best not to gape as they were escorted to their table.

Ari on the other hand, looked like she fit right into the scenario, smiling widely and walking with confidence. Maybe that sort of self-assurance was a family trait, but that didn’t mean Allen was any less impressed by it. Somehow, she looked like she belonged here as she sat down at the table, illuminated by the light fixture just enough to be visible but romantic.

And, well, she had dressed up to knock things out of the park, too. The dress was a dark purple, which worked surprisingly well with her hair. The waves of the skirt reached down to the floor, and even though it didn’t show off much skin, it still managed to highlight Ari’s looks excellently.

Was it a sin to think that way about your date when her brother was more than likely watching on from the sidelines? Allen didn’t think so, but he decided to be careful about it nonetheless.

At least Allen had dressed the right amount to match. His usual wardrobe was highly presentable on a normal day, but Allen had a few suits tucked away in his closet for special occasions like this. Even if Cross hadn’t, Mana had taught Allen how to dress well, and it was something he upheld to this day.

Ari had no complaints, though, none at all. This was better than she had imagined. If only Lenalee could see him now, she’d be jealous. Not bragging on Monday might be a hard endeavor. Of course, maybe she would calm down by then, too.

Without meaning to, Ari let out an excited giggle. Yeah, so much for the idea of playing this whole thing sophisticated.

“You’re really cute, Allen-san,” Ari said, getting straight to the point. Allen automatically blushed, but that just made it even better. “I mean it. You get this surprised look on your face and that’s just the best!”

Allen wasn’t exactly sure how to take that. Sure, that sounded like a compliment, but it was a bit different than what he had been expecting. Even Ari’s smile didn’t alleviate that worry, but that was okay. Surprisingly, all his jitters from the morning had gone and disappeared. Sure, he was wary, but this was surprisingly not much different than just hanging out. You know, if you ignored the price tag.

“Well, I…” Stammering was still going to happen, though, no stopping that. “This was really nice of you to invite me out, Ari.”

“Oh, no problem!” Ari chirped. She seemed really giddy, and Allen could have sworn she was swinging her legs underneath the table. “I was really happy that you said yes!” Of course, something would have happened anyway, but Allen didn’t mind this outcome. “You know, I’ve liked you for a long time, Allen-san, so this is like a dream come true.”

Allen’s blush only grew darker. It didn’t help that Lavi and Ivy were probably watching in. Great, he was lighting up like a Christmas tree and two of his friends had front row seats. “You’ve liked me that long?” he asked, just to make sure. Lavi had said so, but Lavi was also a troublemaker. Allen had to be sure before this went any farther. “I mean, sorry, but…” He scratched the back of his head, trying not to let out a nervous laugh. “I didn’t actually notice?”

Ari probably should have looked disappointed, but wasn’t really a big deal. Even though she could’ve sworn she had dropped hints the size of the Eifel Tower (at least) in his direction. “No worries. You know now, and that’s the important part.” An absolute beam. The surrounding area got just a little bit brighter. “Then again, I don’t think Allen-san knows if he likes me or not.”

Allen flinched without meaning to. She had noticed? Of course she had, she was a Bookman, and even Lavi noticed everything. “Sorry,” he apologized, though Ari immediately shook her head. “To be honest, I’ve never really sorted out my feelings, so this is probably kind of unfair.”

“No, no, that’s fine.” Ari folded her hands, resting her chin on top. Her smile had loosened, but it wasn’t any less pleasant. “So then, Allen-san, why don’t I help you figure it out?”

* * *

As far as Lavi could tell, things seemed to be going pretty good for Allen and Ari. At the very least, Ari was smiling a whole lot, and there wasn’t much else an older brother could ask for. However, the other part of Lavi—the TRIangular president and lead of this whole love triangle shebang in the first place—wanted to know just what was going on in Allen’s brain. That sort of data would be useful in getting to the endgame, but that sort of information could wait until a post-date meeting. For now (and to be in compliance with both Ivy and Kanda’s previous threats), the redhead would have to be content with observing.

He had found a cozy alcove connected to an empty cabinet that still smelled faintly of wine. There was no way he would have been able to afford getting a proper table and meal, not once he had to chip in on Ivy and Kanda’s bill. He got the sense Kanda would eat expensively just to spite him. The logical thing would be to cut down his other planned expenses, but not even running out of space in the kitchen again could convince Lavi to stop buying books.

That just wasn’t realistic.

So he would have to go with the spy option, which was just fine with him. The suit he had worn to get in the door took away impact from his usual ninja approach, but this way he was a little like James Bond, or at least _Spy Kids_.

Ari and Allen had settled into chatting, and the Brit looked casual enough. Ari was even happier, bouncing about with her usual energy while still staying seated. She was definitely cute from a relative distance, and Lavi got one of his uncommon responses to actually dote on her, though the feeling was sure to pass by the end of the evening. Allen certainly knew how to dress, too and Lavi took more than a few moments to appreciate the other boy’s sense of style. No wonder Ari and Lenalee liked him.

All in all, things were smooth. There would be some trouble maybe getting out of here, but nothing Lavi couldn’t handle. He would just watch and keep track on his phone, just in case the Brit needed to text him for advice.

Too bad the cabinet door opened. At least the lighting was dim enough outside that Lavi didn’t get blinded, not that the sight in front of him was any better.

A tall skinny man dressed as a waiter was in front of him. The waiter’s face was a bit cubby, and his hair was a bright orange that gave Lavi’s own red a run for the ridiculous money. The two stared at each other, Lavi’s brain racing to come up with an excuse he should have prepared before him.

“Who are you, lero?”

Lavi stood. Now, running away wasn’t an option. Oh no, that would just make too much of a commotion, no matter how you put it, and pumpkin face would be the least of his worries. Now, acting casual as one could after stepping out of a cabinet and trying to walk away at a moderate pace—that, that he could manage.

* * *

“Wow, you’ve had Timcanpy since back then?” Ari asked between bites of her pasta. “That’s amazing; Asian Paradise Flycatchers don't normally live that long.” She giggled a bit at how proud Allen seemed to be at that fact, even if it wasn’t really his accomplishment. “He looks healthy, too, so he should live a lot longer.”

Well, Allen couldn’t say he had expected the encyclopedic knowledge of a Bookman to come in handy over something like that. He actually hadn’t worried about Tim, not knowing how old the bird was, but extra reassurance was always good. “That’s good to hear,” the Brit said, and Ari had to resist the urge to sigh at how cute his accent sounded. “To be honest, I think Tim’s what keeps me sane half of the time.” Then again, he had to live in a house where Cross could come back at any time, so he needed whatever help he could get. “You and Lavi don’t have any pets do you? I’ve never seen any.”

“Lavi doesn’t have one, but I have a pet lobster.” Ari practically declared the words, and Allen suddenly felt guilty for his choice of fish for a meal. “Relax, fish and shellfish are totally different. Besides, Crab Cakes is special.”

_Crab Cakes?_

“You see, it’s okay because he’s not a crab.” Ari nodded, and Allen felt compelled to go along with her. That didn’t seem quite right, but if she said so… “I got him while I was in France, anyways. Grandpa doesn’t know, but I don’t think he’d really care.”

Allen let out a small cough into his gloves. “Lobsters aren’t common as pets, though. Did you get him at a specialty store.”

Cue one Bookman-trouble-brewing grin. Allen had to resist a shiver. “You could say that.”

_Why do I have an even worse feeling about this than her sense of names?_

Ari set her fork down, putting her hands together. “We went out to eat at this seafood place. You know, the ones with the tanks where you get to pick your dinner?” Allen nodded, distinctly glad that Millennial didn’t have one of those—at least not out in plain sight. “So we were in the waiting area, and I saw him. Crab Cakes is so cute, I just had to have him! It was actually pretty easy to accidentally knock over the tanks…”

Coming up with crazy schemes just had to be a Bookman trait. Even worse, they consistently acted on them. Allen wasn’t sure he could handle that on a regular basis.

“…I didn’t get to eat dinner that night and ruined my dress, but it was _so_ worth it. Oh, you think Johnny could make me some waterproof clothes? For special events? He already adjusted the mobility in this one, but you can only do so much with certain fabric types.” Ari sighed and resumed eating her spaghetti. Allen seemed content with stuffing his face, and Ari was equally content to watch. Behind him, a couple of waiters seemed to be looking around for something, and a flash of red seemed to move from the other side of the restaurant

Ari had to blink.

_Was that my brother?_

Allen had easily finished up his own plate—not even a sense of guilt could stop him from filling his stomach up. Ari offered him the remains of her spaghetti, starting to feel a bit on the full side. Well, if she had been seeing things, it had nothing to do with what was going on in front of her.

“So,” she asked with substantially less care than would have been sane at that moment, “what’s for dessert?”

* * *

Ivy was glad that things had been going well enough, save for the on and off nature of the conversation. Ivy personally thought she was trying too hard to not sound nervous, but that was fine. The food was good and what she could see of Ari and Allen’s trouble, nothing drastic had happened, not even on account of Allen’s stomach. Ivy seriously envied the younger girl’s pocket money. They were moving on to dessert, and soon the evening would come to a close.

No incident from Lavi, either. Ivy hadn’t even seen or heard from him since he had sent the text to let them know Ari and Allen had safely arrived.

“What’s wrong?” Kanda asked, and Ivy knew she had been distracted. “You look worried.” Of course, that was plenty of reason for him to worry, too, but he wasn’t about to show that. That might only make things worse.

“It’s not that anything is going wrong,” Ivy said, toying with some of her hair as she tried to find the right words for this feeling. “It’s more like things are too peaceful.” The idea made her stomach twist up more than it should have.

Kanda nodded. He understood that feeling well. It was usually instinct meaning that something was going to happen soon, and it would likely be the Rabbit’s fault. “Well, I don’t know what to say about that one, since I kind of constantly live with that feeling.” Ivy laughed a bit, and Kanda smiled. Good, he could still do that. “But nothing should happen if the Rabbit knows what’s good for him.”

“Kanda, what did you do?” Kanda only smirked more, leaving his date to raise an eyebrow. She looked ready to press for details until the single buzz of a phone vibrated, and Ivy reluctantly reached to her pants pocket for her phone. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she deadpanned.

“What?” Kanda asked. Ivy held up her phone as a waiter sped by, looking almost as angry as a certain pair of Japanese teens were about to be. Kanda moved to stand up, only to be stopped by Ivy resting a quick hand on his shoulder. “Tch,” he scoffed, tightening his fingers into fists. “One way or another, I’m going to wring his fucking neck.” The sad part wasn’t that Ivy could say she disagreed with him.

Really, she just _had_ to say something, hadn’t she? 


	23. 23. Uproar

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

23\. Uproar

* * *

That evening, Millennial was in a silent uproar.

There weren’t any troubles with the guests, so that wasn’t the issue. The issue is that they had in intruder, and no one could seem to find him. Lero felt most of the stress, being that he was the maître d’ for the evening, and that he would have to be the one to explain why someone with such bright hair had managed to avoid his staff long enough to sneak into a currently unused wine cabinet and not be found even once he was discovered.

_What_ the teenager had wanted was beyond Lero’s span of comprehension, but it couldn’t have been good.

“What, you still can’t find him?” a voice criticized, and Lero visibly flinched. A few of the other waiters had been reporting to him before, but now they had disappeared. No one wanted to be on the bad side of the girl approaching, but Lero didn’t have much of a choice. “How hard can it be to find someone in your own restaurant? At this rate, he’ll have run away by now.”

The girl came to a stop in front of Lero, arms crossed and incredibly intimidating besides being hardly half the man’s height. Road Kamelot, daughter of Millennial’s manager, and with the attitude to match. She could have been cute if it weren’t for how nasty her attitude was, with her penchant for frilly dresses and mussed up hair she had managed to tame into spikes from its usual frizzy mess.

Road’s foot tapped against the wood floor, reminding Lero that he should probably say something.

“We’re looking everywhere we can, lero!” the man exclaimed. He hated talking to Road when she was like this. His voice went up at least several octaves. “I promise that we’ll find him, no matter what. You should go back to your dinner, Mistress Road, lero!”

Road rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to,” she said. “These ‘family’ dinners get so boring. And Tyki already bailed, so there’s no one to talk to. Oh, I know!” The only thing that could make Lero feel worse about the exclamation was the smile that followed. “I’ll help you guys out. I’m _much_ better at hide and seek than you are, Lero. If I catch him, you have to play a punishment game alright?”

Lero gulped, though it sounded much more audible to him. Road was a master at hide and seek, and she had made him play the game with her plenty of times. Though she was nearing her teens now, she had been similarly nasty as a child, and her punishment “games” never went well.

In other words, when it came to hide and seek, Lero always lost.

“That won’t do, lero,” he stammered, waving his hands in front of him. It was probably a good thing they were out of sight of any customers. No need to make himself a fool in front of more people than necessary. Maybe that was why his subordinates had bailed. “You need to go back to dinner, Mistress Road, if your father or the Director hears that I—”

But Road was already gone, humming to herself as she walked through Millennial. She knew the layout by heart, so it was easy to guess where someone could be hiding. She had even played here during the off hours more than a few times, so it was easy to think of. The only question was about how smart her new playmate was. That would start things off.

_Then again, I heard he got into a wine cabinet without anyone noticing…maybe this will actually be fun._

She started out simple, patrolling the areas. She walked with enough confidence that none of the guests questioned her presence, and all the staff paused to give short bows before returning to their work. One obvious tactic was hiding in plain sight, so Road planned to check out all the tables first.

There wasn’t much luck until she spotted a head of red hair sitting at one of the tables, and she smirked. Things really couldn’t be this easy, could they? Oh, well. Road walked in their direction, making sure to keep an innocent smile on her face. This way, she could catch them even more off guard, and it would be easy to take care of things.

As she got closer, though, the redhead she found was a girl. Road’s initial reaction was to suspect crossdressing, but the girl’s body proportions were completely off from the description Lero had given, and Road didn’t think any intruder could compress their height that much.

So, it was a bust, then. Good, that meant the game would be interesting.

Before she moved on, though, Road walked past the table for good measure, just to make sure. Across from the redheaded girl (definitely, there was no doubt about it now) was a white-haired boy that Road hadn’t seen before. Most customers at Millennial were regulars, but Road definitely would have remembered him. White hair, a thin scar down his face, wide but adorable gray eyes…he was a definite knock out, ten out of ten, even while practically inhaling the dessert in front of him.

Road skipped forward, keeping note of their table for later reference. If this game with the intruder didn’t pan out, she at least had something else to look forward to when she was done.

* * *

Ivy sat at the table fuming while Kanda went to check out the bathroom. Lavi was as cryptic as ever, and that only annoyed her more. Okay, she got that things were probably bad given how jumbled some of his words were to the point that autocorrect hadn’t fixed them, but still, _some_ details would have been nice. Translated as best as she could, Ivy could determine the following:

_[Mission compromised. Rabbit has been found. Currently taking refuge in bathroom. Requesting reinforcements.]_

_That’s_ what she had to work with.

“Fucking seriously,” she grumbled.

Ivy had her reservations about sending Kanda to go and check on Lavi in the restroom. The more peaceful side of her was worried that Kanda would go through on his threat to snap the redhead’s neck, and things might get a little messy. On the other hand, her irritation made her wish that she could have gone and done the act herself.

_It’s not like I can just waltz into the men’s restroom anyways…Well, I could, but that would just make things worse. Don’t need anyone else on our heels._

Still, just sitting around and waiting just wasn’t her style. Kanda might be gone for a while, too, if the more violent of routes was taking. Ivy needed to be able to gather up information, and she needed to be able to get it done and out of the way quickly, especially since their waitress for the night would be back with dessert and presumably the bill as well.

_Then maybe the waitress…_

Ivy looked around. While she had been able to keep an eye on Allen and Ari throughout the night, her and Kanda’s table had been pretty secluded near one of the walls. If something happened at the right angle, no one would notice as long as it was quiet. Part of Ivy hesitated, knowing there could be consequences, but this would be the easiest way to do things without causing suspicion.

She ducked under the table, looking around quickly. It was some serious craftsmanship, but she didn’t have time to feel guilty. This was war, no holds barred. If this didn’t work, she’d be sure to take a part of the table with her so she could bash Lavi’s head in with it.

Maybe still carrying her supplies along was a good thing.

It took maybe two minutes for Ivy to mess with the support on the table, and then she returned to her seat, smoothing out her hair. Their waitress hadn’t returned yet, so Ivy focused on looking casual. It had been too long since she had done something like that, and she was a bit wary, but the table held steady, She just couldn’t take any sudden movements.

“Alright, one dessert for you two!” The woman’s—Sachiko, was it?—chipper voice said, baring a tray. Ivy took a silent inhale, trying to keep focused. Timing and visuals were crucial. Taking one last glance around—no one to see—Ivy watched as Sachiko placed the plate on the table, perfectly in the center.

_Don’t tip it until it’s over…!_

It had been a while, but muscle memory made it easy to grab onto Sachiko’s arm, pulling the small woman closer to Ivy and against the wall, mouth covered. Ivy let out a couple of shaky breaths, but the tray clattering against the floor didn’t bring any attention. She smiled a bit, but that moment was quickly ruined by the realization that Sachiko was taller than her.

_Oh, get over yourself._

“Hey, I heard there’s some trouble going on here,” Ivy said, keeping her voice quiet but cheery. Just because this was a bit old school of her, there was no need to go into full intimidation mode. Sachiko was already shaking under her grip, and that was enough. “I’m sorry for causing trouble like this, but you see, the guy that’s running around like a moron, I think you saw him sneak out the side door, didn’t you? You tried to chase after him, but you just missed him, right? And you’re such a good waitress, you couldn’t follow him when you heard a crash in your section, right?”

“A-a crash?” Sachiko squeaked out. Good, stammering. That meant it was working.

“Yeah, a crash,” Ivy repeated, her voice calmer than she felt. This had to go fast, before someone passed by. “It’s a shame about the table. Lucky we didn’t get hurt.” Sachiko tried to look back, and Ivy let her go as far as she could move. The table was still standing, but that was really just a temporary thing. “I think we deserve a reimbursement for that one, don’t you, Sachiko-san?”

“I-I understand.”

Sachiko felt like crying. Ivy felt bad about it, but it was too late to back down. She’d make sure the girl got an excellent tip (courtesy of Lavi, of course), but for now Ivy couldn’t get distracted. “That’s good.” Ivy smiled and let Sachiko go, spinning her away from the wall like a dance move. “Now if you don’t mind, we’ll take that dessert to go, please.”

Sachiko scrambled off, missing the plate left on the table. Ivy watched the waitress go and stepped away from her seat, arms crossed over her chest. Hopefully the staff would believe Sachiko, and that would be that. Hell, Allen would even have less money to fork up in the end. Ivy sighed as she noticed Kanda approaching, glad there was something to distract herself with. “What’s the deal?” she asked.

Kanda let out a heavy breath. Ivy stopped him from sitting down, but he didn’t seem to be in the right mood to question it. Well, he would understand soon enough. “Damn rabbit’s nowhere to be found,” he reported. “Did you get another text from him or something?”

“No, but I just did him a huge favor,” Ivy reluctantly admitted. This time Kanda did give her a questioning look. “I’d rather not talk about it. Nobody should be looking for him anymore, so I don’t care. Sachiko-san should be back soon with dessert and we can bail.”

Kanda frowned a bit. “Something happen?” he asked. Ivy shrugged. Their waitress came into view, and Ivy bumped her hip against the table, sending the whole thing down with a crash. Kanda blinked, staring at the mess. At least there weren’t many dishes left, but it was a disaster, and that tablecloth didn’t take too well to food coloring and juice. “Did you do that?”

Huh, Kanda actually looked impressed. Ivy smiled a bit. “Maybe,” she allowed, heading in Sachiko’s direction. She accepted the bag with their dessert and was informed that their bill for the evening had been waived. Ivy turned back to Kanda and reached for his hand. He took it, and they walked towards the exit together, careful to not cross Ari and Allen’s path. “Wanna study for that physics test tomorrow?”

* * *

Okay, yes, Lavi was missing. But to get into that, we need to have a little flashback.

Lavi had managed to escape Pumpkin Face by walking swiftly for several feet, acting like he belonged here, ignoring any calls, and eventually catapulting himself around and over a medium-sized water fixture nearby. He had stuck the landing on that one, and Pumpkin Face had been so baffled that he hadn’t been able to follow. Lavi managed to stick to blind spots after that—who knew being so tall made this stuff so _hard_ —and escape to the bathroom with a minimum number of incidents, where he promptly locked himself in a stall and proceeded to text Ivy the situation.

Okay, maybe someone’s dinner had been interrupted, but Lavi could deal with that.

He propped himself up between the stall walls, back on one end, feet pressed against the other. How much trouble could he get in for this one? While being in a restaurant without ordering anything was frowned upon, there wasn’t anything _wrong_ with it, at least not legally. The hard part was explaining why he was in a wine cabinet, but was _that_ illegal? He couldn’t think of any laws that lead to that effect, but still.

Lavi sighed. Even if that was the case, good luck convincing the owner of the place. Someone with the money it took to run Millennial could probably make consequences appear all on their own.

Well, there was no point in holing up in the restroom all night. Lavi was frankly surprised they hadn’t checked there already. He dropped his feet to the ground and flushed the toilet for good measure before stepping out of the stall, heading for the sink. Maybe he could try and contact Ivy again, see if they could make up a plan together.

“You certainly look worried.”

Lavi almost jumped at the voice even though its owner hadn’t appeared out of thin air or anything so miraculous. He just genuinely hadn’t expected anyone to talk to him. Lavi headed to the sink, doing a quick observation of the other guy. Tall, tan skinned, dark hair, in a nice suit with the collar open, plus a few extra buttons to measure. Lavi blinked, breaking his stare.

“I’m saying you look out of it,” the other guy continued. “Are you alright?”

Lavi chuckled, trying to play it cool as he lathered soap in between his fingers. “Yeah, this night just didn’t go the way I expected,” he said. In any sense of the word. At least it looked like Ari and Allen had been having fun.

The other man hummed in agreement, pushing back his hair. “Bad date?”

Lavi grimaced. “Not…exactly…” How else was he supposed to respond to that? He chewed on his tongue a bit, rinsing away the soap. Well, rabbits could be social animals, at least Lavi was. Might as well keep it going. “You look like you’ve been having a rough night yourself there, buddy.” Not as harried as Lavi by a long shot, as the mirror insisted on showing him, but the other guy looked kind of bored, if not disgruntled. The water turned off on its own, and the sensor triggered as Lavi ran his hands under the dryer.

“Just a boring family affair, that’s all,” the other guy said. He exhaled, rolling his sleeves back down. “Though I have to thank you. After all, you caused quite the commotion and gave me an escape. I really do appreciate it.”

Lavi froze, the sound of the dryer echoing in the bathroom. _Shit, shit, not good._ He had been busted. Whoever this was knew that he wasn’t supposed to be here, and that could only end in Lavi getting in serious trouble. He slowly pulled his hands back, trying to remember how far the bathroom was from the entrance and trying to figure out if he could make a run for it.

The other guy chuckled, breaking Lavi’s concentration. Dammit, why was he so distracting? “Easy there,” the other guy said. “I really am grateful, so why don’t I help you out here? There’s a side exit that’s for employees that I could show you, too. How’s that sound, Red?”

_Red?_ Was this guy serious? This could be a trap, but Lavi didn’t have many more quiet options. At this rate, he and Ivy were going to have to run a crazy chase sequence, and Kanda wouldn’t appreciate that. It was either take the chance at maybe getting grilled by the owner, or getting murdered by Kanda Yu in the next twenty-four hours (probably less).

Lavi chose life.

“My name’s Lavi,” he said. If this was a trap, they were gonna find out anyway. He just needed to get over it. “If you’re serious about helping me, I’d really, really appreciate it.”

The other guy smiled and fixed up his jacket. He left his shirt unbuttoned, though. “Ah, then it’s nice to meet you, Lavi. You can call me Tyki.” Well, that was an unusual name, but Lavi couldn’t really talk. “Let’s get you out of here, shall we?”

Lavi nodded and followed. His insides felt nervous, but his instincts weren’t throwing up red flags, so things should be okay. He walked with confidence, and no one so much as blinked when Tyki walked towards an employee area like it was nothing. Lavi did his best to hide in the other guy’s shadow until they were safely outside. Well, no waiting ambush. That was a positive.

“And here you go,” Tyki said. “I won’t ask what you were doing hiding in a wine cabinet, but maybe that’s a story you can tell me another time?” He reached into his jacket and produced a cigarette, quickly lighting it up with a long drag. Lavi raised an eyebrow, and Tyki chuckled. “It was a joke. Unless you were interested in seeing me again?”

Lavi rolled his eye, too glad he had escaped unscathed to worry about the remark. “Whatever, man,” he said. Tyki offered him a cigarette, but Lavi declined. “Seriously, though, thanks. I should probably get out of here before your hard work goes to waste. Thanks again!”

Lavi headed towards his car. He should probably send a text to Ivy, letting her know things were clear, but that could wait until he was certain he was. He would have also liked to check on Ari and Allen one last time, but Ari would be a good enough indicator of that until TRIangular could meet again. Lavi pulled away from Millennial, waving to Tyki in the shadow of the building, the red point of the cigarette floating mindlessly in the air.

The smell of his cologne was still in Lavi’s nostrils.

* * *

“Eh, that’s no fun.”

Sachiko could feel herself panicking. She wanted to run away, mainly because this lie was enough on her nerves, never mind what had happened to the table. She’d never seen one fall apart so smoothly, like its part were never even stable in the first place. She could have laughed if she wasn’t ready to cry.

“I can’t believe he just ran away like that.”

Lero was in a similar mood, but he was also relieved. While he hadn’t won Road’s challenge, he also hadn’t technically lost it, either. He was safe for now, though Road was sure to come up with another game soon enough. That was just how she was, after all. Let him have his current moment.

“And that white-haired guy’s gone, too.” Road pouted, sitting down at an empty table and propping her chin up on her fist. She had taken too long in hunting around, and had completely missed when he had left. “This night’s just a bust. I thought I’d be able to have some fun, but I guess not. And Tyki’s still missing…”

The two staff members watched on, both praying for a dismissal. There wasn’t much left for them to do, unless Road acted on a whim. Both of them could seriously use some time to relax, and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Road heaved a sigh, slumping over. No one questioned her position. She reached out to the book sitting on the table, flipping through the pages. The reservation booklet should have still been up front for the last of the evening, but none of the staff had enough guts to question why Road would want it in the first place. “Ah, here we go. Ms. Ari Bookman and Mr. Allen Walker at seven-thirty PM. No doubt about it.”

Road giggled, the high pitch enough to send a shiver up her spine. Not even Sachiko could find that cute. Both waiter and waitress backed up slowly—really, it was better for their sanity to get out of there.

“I’m definitely looking forward to meeting you…”

* * *

“Allen-san, thanks for going out with me,” Ari said. Though tradition indicated that Allen should have been the one to drop Ari off at her door, she was paying for the taxi, so that had to be subverted. Really, Allen was just glad that nothing crazy had happened on the date, even with Lavi being there. He’d accept whatever happened at this point.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Allen said, smiling. “I had a great time.” And, really, he had. The food was great, and while Ari was a little quirky, she was fun to be around. He still felt bad about the bill, though, even when she insisted it was okay. He’d have to find a way to thank her for it, sometimes.

“I really mean it, though.” Ari reached for his fingers and squeezed. “You probably don’t think so, but you made me feel like I was everything to you, even though I’m not. This was the sort of night I wanted, so…thanks a bunch.”

And Ari tugged on Allen’s lapels, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Allen blushed and covered his mouth when Ari pulled away. She giggled, looking incredibly pleased with herself. Allen just looked like he was going to explode, and that was okay, too. She smoothed out the wrinkles in Allen’s jacket for him and took a few steps back.

“I don’t mind waiting for an answer,” Ari said, smiling as brightly as ever, “but just promise to think about what I said, okay?”

And Ari bolted back to the taxi, almost slamming the door shut and leaving Allen alone on the sidewalk.

Well, he certainly had a lot to think about, that was for sure.


	24. 24. Ordinary Saturday

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

24\. Ordinary Saturday

* * *

Lavi had slept alright. It was waking up that was the problem.

He had been too ready to go to bed the night before, so there really hadn’t been time for reflection. But waking up meant having a fresh mind, and that gave one certain rabbit enough time to realize just how little he had been focusing on the success level of the date, and how much he had ultimately been focusing on other things.

Like how Allen had looked pretty damn good last night. And how much Lavi still remembered what Tyki looked like, despite the other guy being a total stranger.

Well, his insides were definitely throwing up red flags now.

Lavi had always had a taste for ladies—it was hard not to when they were so beautiful all the time. And he didn’t have a problem with the idea of maybe liking guys, too, it had just never happened before. Sighing, Lavi stared at his ceiling, trying to figure out a decent rig for keeping books up there but just kept getting distracted.

He was _not_ panicking. He was just maybe a little bit out of his comfort zone. Well, he definitely couldn’t talk to Ari about this—she would figure out what had happened in no time flat. Kanda had zero patience for this stuff, Ivy probably wanted her space after last night, and Lavi couldn’t talk to Allen when the Brit was part of the reason for his problem. That only left one problem.

Lavi reached for his phone (his hands were definitely _not_ shaking, thank you very much!) and rung up the Lenalady.

There were a few extended moments of ringing, which only served to worry Lavi more. Lenalee tended to keep her phone close by, and not answering usually meant she was occupied. Lavi could wait, but he preferred not to. Thankfully, the ringing was interrupted with a _click_ , and Lenalee’s voice came through the phone.

_“Hey, what’s up, Lavi?”_ Lenalee asked. Lavi closed his eye and let out a calming breath. Thank the possible and various variations of god for Lenalee.

“Hey, you got a minute? Or several?” Lavi responded. Generally he would have kept his cheerful tone up, but Lenalee would understand. She always seemed to. Lenalee let out a small hum of agreement before the loud sound of metal hitting the floor echoed before fading out. Whatever was going on, Lenalee was walking away from it. Lavi couldn’t waste his brain power on trying to play detective. “Well, um…” How to put this. “Do you think it’d be weird if I liked dudes, too?”

Lavi braced himself. Lenalee was accepting, but this was kind of—aw, screw it, this was something huge! They never really talked about this stuff in their group, but Lenalee was someone that Lavi trusted, no matter what. That wouldn’t be lost on her, but Lavi wasn’t sure if she would squeal or take forever to process.

_“Well, do you think it would be weird?”_ Lenalee posed. The Chinese girl couldn’t say she had seen this coming, but that didn’t mean it had to be such a shock, either. People were free to like whoever they wanted after all, as long as everybody respected everyone else’s feelings. Besides, she couldn’t be one to judge. _“I mean, sure, there are a lot of things to consider, but you don’t have to rush to a conclusion or anything.”_

Lavi could have sworn that part of his brain audibly protested at that, like whenever a metal beam had too much strain put on it. Looking over the available information and pulling a conclusion form it was like his default response. Still, he knew Lenalee had a point. “I guess it wouldn’t be too weird…” he admitted. “Just unexpected.”

Lenalee nodded, even though Lavi couldn’t see it. _“Then it’s fine,”_ she assured, her voice in calming I’m-actually-the-little-sister-but-I-act-more-rational-so-I-might-as-well-be-the-older-one mode. _“It’s the weekend, so just chill out. You’ll have an answer eventually, but not if you stress out about it.”_ Finally, though, she couldn’t help it. This wasn’t the sort of question you asked out of nowhere, and the cause was only a few questions away. _“You mind if I ask where this was coming from?”_

There was an extended pause, the telltale sign of Lavi stiffening. He fumbled for his scarf but only touched the skin of his neck. Well, there was a truth that still had the answer without spilling all the details. “I went out for dinner last night and ran into this guy.” Oh, red alert on words. _Quick, correct yourself!_ “Nothing happened but we chatted for a bit and I found him kind of…attractive.”

That was an incorrect word if Lenalee had ever heard one. _“So he was hot, huh?”_ she supplied causing Lavi to splutter. _“Calm down, I won’t tell. Just making sure I understand the situation.”_ Lavi tried to take a deep breath. And people said he was the master of dragging people out of their comfort zones. _“You didn’t happen to get his number or anything did you?”_

“Come _on_ , Lenalee!” Lavi whined, feeling himself turn about as red as his hair, if not darker. Lenalee giggled a bit. “No, I did _not_ get his number.” It was defensive, but he couldn’t care. “I didn’t really get the chance, and I doubt we’ll see each other again, so it doesn’t really matter, now does it?”

Lenalee let out a disappointed sigh but didn’t argue. _“Fine, fine. I was just thinking that if you saw him again, you might be able to figure some stuff out, that’s all.”_ She shrugged. _“Anyway, I gotta get back to Komui or he’s gonna be slacking on cleaning. But if you need to talk, I’ll be around, okay?”_

“Yeah. Thanks, Lena.” Lavi did feel a bit better, if not at least a bit calmer. And she had a point—he saw Allen pretty much every day, so that might help sort things out. Exchanging their farewells, the two teens hung up, and Lavi bounced out of bed, ready to get the day started. There were preparations to be made after all.

Lenalee returned her phone to her pocket and tightened her ponytail as she headed back to the kitchen. “Nii-san! You better not be building something instead of moving it to the car!”

“But look! If I finish the adjustments, it’ll help us move everything. We’ll hardly have to carry a thing! I couldn’t stand it if my precious sister had to do so much manual labor, so—”

It really was an ordinary Saturday.

* * *

Compared to everything that had happened at Millennial the night before, cramming for a Physics test felt great—even peaceful. Numbers and formulas made sense, and Ivy could memorize them, put them into categories, and execute them as needed. Sure, there were a lot of formulas, but that was fine. Anything was easier than trying to predict what Lavi would do.

Ivy gripped onto her pencil a bit too hard. Kanda raised an eyebrow. “You feelin’ okay?” he asked, not quite with a tone of concern. Still, it was the words that mattered, and Ivy could appreciate that.

Ivy put the pencil down, stretching out her fingers. For some reason, they felt stiff, and that was never a good situation to be in. “I’m okay,” she said, massaging at a tense spot between her thumb and index finger. “Though I think you get five points for checking in on me, though.”

Kanda blinked, which was probably the closest he ever came to confused. Ivy liked it, though—you had to be looking for the moment to see it, which made it all the more special when she did notice it. “I won’t complain about it, but since when do we hand out points for stuff like that?”

Ivy blushed a little bit, not meeting Kanda’s eyes. She flexed her thumb, hoping to relieve some of the tension. “I dunno,” she admitted, almost murmuring, “maybe since you became my boyfriend?”

It had sounded like a good idea in—no, screw that. Even in her head it had sounded dumb, but those sorts of things were supposed to be romantic, right? She really didn’t get how any of this worked; it was a goddamn wonder she had recognized her crush on Kanda in the first place. If only she had someone to ask for advice—too bad all her friends were in the middle of romantic roller coasters themselves. Well, all except for Lavi but just: no.

Fuck no.

Kanda took a moment to process the words before smiling a bit—a tiny one in comparison to the average, but a smile nonetheless. “Alright,” he said, knowing he should just say the words before he could stop himself, “then you get five points for being cute.”

Both of their faces were equally red at this point, and Ivy was the first to move, abruptly standing up, her chair screeching against the wood flooring. “Alright, I think it’s time for a break!” she said, rapidly heading to the kitchen. They had hardly been studying for an hour, but it was still early—they did have all day. “You want anything to drink, Yu-kun?”

“Hn. I’ve got some tea in the fridge if you don’t mind.”

“You got it!”

Ivy bustled away, with every intention of taking a bit longer than necessary. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the complement—hell, she actually kind of _liked_ it, but no one had ever really talked to her that way before. Even though she and Kanda had been dating for almost a month, it was still a lot to process.

Kanda waited in the dining room, looking back over his papers. It wasn’t last minute cramming, but he still felt that he didn’t recognize most of the material. If he focused he had it, but his thoughts were more than a bit preoccupied. His urge to kill Lavi was even lower than it should have been last night, but that’s because other things were bothering him. The first and foremost being:

“Hey, what did you even do to that table last night?”

Ivy nearly dropped her two glasses of tea, but sanity caused her to keep her grip. Kanda at least waited until she sat them down and uttered a “thanks” before continuing. “I mean, I get that you might not have wanted to talk about it right in the middle of the restaurant, but you can tell me.”

Ivy felt uncomfortable. Not greatly so, but just enough to feel like she was squirming. And Kanda would more than likely notice, being the type of guy he was. She took measured breaths through her nose, hoping to calm down the slightest amount. “I just…” Okay, that pause was more than hesitation. Ugh, she hated talking about this stuff—why had she been so stupid for her first few years of being a teenager? “I disabled the main support on the table…?”

Okay, that sounded more like a question than an answer, but Ivy seemed nervous enough. Kanda raised an eyebrow in favor of pressing the issue too hard. “With what exactly?”

Ivy let out a nervous laugh and immediately berated herself with it. Her tools were tucked inside the inner pocket of her jacket, but she couldn’t just whip them out and say “I carry these on me all the time, didn’t I mention that?” She at least stopped herself from reaching for them, which would have been an immediate tell. “You’d be surprised the things you can do with an ordinary set of silverware,” she lied.

She didn’t like it, either, but there wasn’t much else she could do.

Kanda nodded, reaching for the cup she had brought him. Ivy went back to shuffling her notes around and glancing around her assignments. “Why don’t we switch up topics?” he suggested, and Ivy gave a thumbs up. “There’s that history reading to do and I think we could get some good notes together.”

“Read and compare?” Ivy suggested, finally smiling again. Bonus points: it didn’t feel forced, either. She reached to her bag for her own history book, sitting her physics work aside for the moment. Kanda did the same, and Ivy watched him for a few moments, glad that she could have this quiet moment with him. “Let’s stay like this forever,” she muttered.

Kanda looked up and tilted his head. “Huh?” Damn, his ears were sharp.

“Nothing to worry about, just talking to myself,” Ivy said, hoping that would be enough for a save. Kanda’s attention returned to his text soon after, and Ivy figured she might as well get focused, too.

But she really hoped that this would never change.

* * *

Johnny intensely stared down the chessboard as Ari played on her phone. The girl was a master multi-tasker, so her looking away from the board was normal. What was less normal was the amount of giggles she was putting out on a regular basis, and they were pretty distracting. It made it feel as if she was taunting his thoughts over every move he was considering making, even though he was fairly certain the one thing Ari Bookman couldn’t do was read minds.

That and solve science problems, but that was beside the point.

Finally, Ari let out a particularly loud giggle, and Johnny gave up on focusing on the chessboard. “Alright,” he said, sounding more annoyed than curious. Ari finally looked up, giving a confused look to the board.

“You didn’t move,” she said. Of course she could memorize the board, why wouldn’t she be able to? Ari pouted, placing her phone aside. “You can’t be giving up yet; we haven’t even been playing for ten minutes!” That was one of the things Ari liked about Johnny—no matter how screwed his position on the board was, he wouldn’t give up until a checkmate was confirmed.

“No, but I’m not making another move until you tell me what’s go you so giddy,” Johnny declared. Well, Ari guessed she had been a bit obvious with that one. “I take it your date last night went well?”

Ari’s hands immediately clasped together with enough force that Johnny feared ever getting hit by her. Thankfully Ari was a pretty docile person—it was her tongue you had to look out for, really, unless you were her brother. “It was perfect!” the girl gushed, immediately spewing out rainbows in the form of her voice. “Allen-san’s such a gentleman, but you know that already, Johnny. He was nice enough to go out with me even though he’s not sure if he likes me or not, and he’s _so_ cute when he talks about Timcanpy, and—” The sentence was broken off as Ari let out a squeal.

Johnny was suddenly glad his chess set was made of wood instead of glass.

“So are you going out again?” It was the question for the high school ages, and really everyone involved wanted to know, even Kanda, though the boy wouldn’t admit it. (If they got together, that would make the rabbit stop all his bullshit, you got it?!) Johnny mostly wanted to know since both parties were his close friends, and he wanted to see them happy.

“I dunno yet…” Ari said. Her tone had dampened, but she sounded pretty chipper with all things considered. “I mean, we’ve actually been texting most of the morning.” It was mostly mundane conversational stuff, but that was enough for Ari. That explained all the giggling at least. “But my brother’s definitely up to something.”

Johnny blinked. “Lavi?” he asked. Sure, he knew Lavi a bit from association, but they had never really talked too much. All Johnny knew what that Lavi was definitely Ari’s older brother, and “being up to something” couldn’t lead to anything good. “What’s he got to do with it?”

Ari looked back and forth, even though they were the only ones in Johnny’s living room at the moment. That didn’t stop her from leaning across the chessboard, urging Johnny to come close. They nearly knocked over the formation of pieces, but Ari could easily reset them in a minute. “The truth is that Lenalee likes Allen, too,” she whispered, even though that wasn’t exactly a secret, “and I think Nii-chan’s got it in his head that he needs to solve the love triangle, okay?” Ari sat back, crossing her arms. Her phone buzzed in her hand, but Allen could wait for a moment. “So I’m in for a lot more trouble than I’ve bargained for. And if Lenalee somehow manages to win over Allen…”

Now, Johnny had nothing against Lenalee; they actually got alone quite well. The thing was that, ultimately, Ari was his closer friend, and she actually looked worried about the idea. And a worried Ari was no good, especially when you were her best friend.

“Well, I’m gonna be busy soon,” Johnny said. The Robot Fight Club was set for march, and it would definitely be pretty time consuming. Two weeks was probably nowhere near enough time, but for Ari, he would do it. “But why don’t we set you up for Valentine’s Day? I’ll make your dress, and you can blow Lenalee out of the park!”

Ari’s eyes widened before she broke out into a grin and lunged herself across the table. The chessboard was decimated, but who cared at this point? “Ah, really?! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, you’re the best! The absolute best! You’re unbelievable! No, you’re unbelieva-Gill!”

Once Johnny was free of the Infinite Thank You Hug, he went to grab his sketch materials while Ari laid the chess soldiers to rest.

* * *

Millennium Private High School was usually a quiet place, save if you were in the vicinity of certain male dorms. But Road was tucked away in her private room, decked out with purple, lace and candles. The fourteen-year-old herself was at her computer, hair only partially spiked up for the day as she navigated across several webpages at once.

It was a wonder what you could find when you knew someone’s name and face.

Road hadn’t known what exactly to expect, but she was more than pleased with the results. Allen was a student at the nearby Black Order High School, meaning that he had to live in the area. From there, it was easy to find out everything about him—from his defunct guardian to his street address and P.O. box number.

“You look like you’re hard at work,” a voice drawled from the doorway. Road scowled; she had definitely locked the door, which meant only one other person could get in. She spun around in her chair to face the intruder.

Tyki Mikk, recently nineteen-years-old and definitely handsome—as well as Road’s cousin—stood in the middle of the room, looking amused. Road wished she knew how Tyki could pick locks so easily, but he steadfastly refused to tell her. The man crossed the room, leaning over Road’s desk to look at her screen. “A bit of an extracurricular project, hm?”

Road stuck out her tongue, but didn’t bother to shut down her computer. Even if he was a pain, Tyki would never snitch on her—mainly because Road would snitch back in response. It was a relationship of mutual preservation. “What’s it matter to you?” she asked. “It’s been so boring, I’m allowed to have a little fun, right?” And just like that, Road went right back to digging through her acquired files. Tyki could watch or get bored and leave, his call.

Tyki did watch for a while. Road ignored him, but that was fine. For some reason, Tyki was sure he had seen the boy before, but he couldn’t quite place where. However, there was a face he recognized—a redhead with an eyepatch in one of the pictures, his arm hooked around the other white-haired boy’s neck, nearly strangling him from the looks of it.

“Care to share a bit more?’ Tyki asked, and the interest in his voice definitely wasn’t missed by Road. “I might be a bit interested in…helping you out.”

* * *

Allen shuddered violently enough for Timcanpy to protest from his shoulder. Allen pet the bird as an apology, skimming over his readings for his literature course and his phone lit up with a text from Ari. It was a completely ordinary Saturday, but he couldn’t get rid of the chill that had decided to settle in the pit of his stomach.

“I better not be getting sick again,” he grumbled, and Tim let out a concerned warble. “That’s the last thing I need right now…”


	25. 25. TRIangular: Ease and Pressure

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

25\. TRIangular: Ease and Pressure

* * *

Come Sunday afternoon, it was time for TRIangular to reassemble, and Allen and Ivy made their way to Lavi’s home with mixed mindsets. While Lavi would have normally liked to go ahead and mix the location up, he knew there was zero chance in hell of Ivy letting them into her apartment, plus Lavi wasn’t quite sure if he could handle being in the Brit’s house all things considered. He needed to be playing with a home field advantage, and the garage was definitely his field, if the rest of the house definitely wasn’t.

It was amazing how quickly Ari could reclaim her territory, despite being gone for over a year.

“Alright, we are all present and accounted for!” Lavi declared. All he needed to do was keep his energy up and he could handle this, no problem. “I now declare this meeting of TRIangular up and running!” Ah, the exhilaration of being able to open a meeting with a name and a purpose. “You guys gotta try this sometime. Ivy-chan, wanna make the opening statement instead. I promise, it’s really cool!”

“In any event, we should figure out our next steps today,” Ivy said, not even acknowledging Lavi’s request. Sure, it wasn’t like she had any plans, but she definitely didn’t feel like wasting her afternoon on this nonsense. Considering what had happened on Friday, dealing with Lavi was a less than pleasurable experience and she _really_ didn’t feel like losing her temper. “Your thoughts, Allen?”

Lavi immediately struck, leaping into action and crossing several feet in one literal bound. It wasn’t the reason for Kanda’s nickname for him, but it certainly fit in situations like these. The redhead extended a finger dramatically in Allen’s directions. “Let’s start from Friday night. Brit, report!”

Allen blinked, gingerly pushing Lavi’s finger away from his face. “It was actually kind of fun,” the Brit said, looking happier than Ivy had expected. Then again, Allen hadn’t called her wanting an explanation for Lavi’s antics, so maybe he hadn’t noticed…? “I was surprised things went so smoothly, but I’m glad it worked out. No problems at all, you guys, good job.”

Ivy knew better than to stiffen up and relaxed a bit farther into the couch. Lavi knew better, too, and he covered it up with a complex series of hand motions which would’ve looked more at home flagging an airplane down. That didn’t stop them from sharing a glance, though, and Ivy narrowed her eyes a slight amount.

_We’ll talk later._

“So then you guys hit it off, then?” Lavi asked, not wanting to deal with that particular brand of Japanese land mine at that exact moment. He focused on Allen’s expression, trying to figure out anything he could. The Brit was definitely blushing, even if it was just the faintest shade of pink. “You didn’t do anything indecent to my baby sister, did you, _hm_?”

Okay, that overprotective mode just wasn’t right. Lavi had since gotten out of Allen’s face, but the white-haired boy still scooted his chair back a bit nonetheless. “A gentleman never tells,” he blurted, and Ivy’s eyebrows raised towards her hairline. Lavi staggered back a bit, looking utterly shocked. “Come on you guys, you know I wouldn’t!”

Ivy coughed, a bit ashamed for making the assumption. Comparing the two, Ari was more likely to start any scenario, given that she was a Bookman. So much else ran in the family, initiative had to be one of them. “Calm down, Lavi, Allen-san’s right,” she said. That didn’t stop Lavi’s heart from flailing wildly, though. “So, we can say positive results then? Any thoughts on which way you want to go?”

Allen nodded. “Ari-san is nice and fun to be around, but I don’t want to base my decision on that,” he said, pulling at the wrinkles in his gloves. “I definitely think it would be best to take Lenalee out, too, see how things go.” Even then, he wasn’t sure that would be enough to make a decision. Were relationships supposed to go that fast? It didn’t feel right. Having Ari kiss him after one date was enough to make feel dizzy.

“Sounds reasonable.” In comparison, Ivy was glad that she hadn’t ever liked more than one person. This whole mess seemed like nothing more than a giant pain in the ass. “We still only have a couple of weeks before Valentines hits, so you might want to do it soon. I know you don’t want to rush things, but you should definitely keep the situation under control.”

“Control?” Lavi asked. He had been partially spacing out, but he definitely understood all the important stuff. Still, that sounded like a jab at his performance if Lavi had ever heard one, even if it was missing levels of malice.

Ivy crossed her arms, hoping to preserve some heat. Lavi’s garage tended to keep pretty warm, but as they went deeper into winter, its status as a hangout tended to be questionable. “Let’s look at it this way: Allen-san and Ari-san have gone out on a date together. It’s getting pretty close to Valentine’s. If I were in that situation, I would probably assume that the other person was interested in asking me to the dance.

“Ari’s already proven she can take the lead in the situation.” Allen faintly blushed in memory of the kiss, but the other two didn’t seem to notice. Ivy held up her hand, slightly pointing forward. “If Allen doesn’t make the move, Ari will, and she’ll make it fast. Allen needs to know how to answer her if things are going to stay in his ballpark. So, the sooner you and Lenalee go out, the better.”

It was so practical it almost hurt. And Ivy said she hadn’t needed Lavi’s help in getting together with Kanda, tsk, tsk. “It is an effective use of time,” Lavi had to admit. “Though you should really loosen up, Ivy-chan, no need to prepare for war over there. Does your brain ever rest?”

Ivy scowled. “I was just offering my opinion. If you don’t like it, then get out.”

_Ouch._ This was _his_ house, you know!

“No, no, it’s okay, I get it,” Allen interrupted. Ah, Ivy must’ve been in a pretty sour mood, though Allen wasn’t about to ask why. This whole situation was pretty close to a landmine as it was, no need to set it off farther. He liked having all of his limbs attached. “I wanna be fair to Lenalee and give her a chance. So let’s figure this out.”

Ivy smiled a bit. That was some progress. “Alright, good.” She tried to ease up a bit more, but even still, there was tension in her shoulders. She needed to stretch when this was all over, especially if she was going to be hitting anyone in the near future. “So then, I guess you and Lenalee could talk about it, but we should talk date ideas.”

“Right.” Allen paused. What sort of things could he do? Matching up the experience with Ari’s was probably a good deal, but paying the bill was the hard part.

“I don’t think we should try to go back to Millennial again,” Lavi said, probably a bit too fast. He couldn’t help it, though. If he wasn’t blacklisted already—no, scratch that. He’d probably never be able to set foot in that place again for the rest of his life.

“Agreed.” Ivy almost spoke as quickly, giving Allen minor whiplash in the process. The two had never been this synchronized before. It had to be like the second coming or something. Maybe the revelation? “I’m not double-dating anymore,” she added, hoping to get things out of the way before Allen was able to trap her into another guilt-trip. “Yu-kun doesn’t like it, and I don’t either. We weren’t really planning on going out, so it shouldn’t be as much as an issue…”

Lavi nodded, putting his hand to his chin for good measure. “Alright, then let’s talk situation,” he declared, grabbing a free rolling chair and sitting down. Not only was it comfy, he could spend his time on spinning, too! “We still wanna be able to observe and stick close, so something in an open area. Crowd coverage would be good, too.”

“Your thoughts, Allen-san?”

Good, she hadn’t forgotten this time. Lavi rolled a bit closer to the couch besides Ivy, and Allen even chanced getting a bit closer to the thing. He should still have been able to make it to the door of things went bad, so that was a plus.

“I dunno,” Allen admitted. Man, this whole date set up was just not his thing. Maybe he should research. “Something open? I don’t wanna sound lame, but shopping might be best.” Lenalee did like that sort of thing, after all. It seemed a bit lackluster in comparison, but it was the company that mattered most, right?

Lavi and Ivy exchanged glances. Lavi shrugged, leaning over the back end of the chair. Ivy gave a small nod. “You’re the boss,” Lavi said.

Well, that was easy. A bit too easy. No, Allen just needed to stay strong. Things had worked out well, and he had been certain of disaster. Lenalee wasn’t even as eccentric as Ari was, plus they were planning in advance. This whole thing would work out just fine.

He hoped.

“Alright, then I’ll ask Lenalee out this week,” Allen said. For some reason, that sounded a lot easier than it would be to do. But Ari had managed to do it okay, so Allen could at least handle that much. If he couldn’t even ask a girl out on his own, then this whole situation had a lot more problems than it already did.

Ivy looked to Lavi, trying to urge him on. Really, this would be the one time his ridiculousness could be considered a push in the right direction. She sighed. Did really need to say it? “Do you need any pointers?” she said. “I mean, Lavi hits on girls all the time. Not that you should act like him, but he can at least give you confidence tips.”

“Huh, me?” Lavi pointed to himself. Ivy nodded, and the redhead’s face broke out into an absolute grin. “Aw, yeah, I can help you out if you want, Brit. It’s all in the attitude, the swagger! Lenalady will probably say yes in a heartbeat, but a little extra _oomph_ can’t hurt.”

Ivy was fairly certain that the word _oomph_ did not require that much emphasis or a hand gesture of any kind. Allen repressed a grimace. “I’ll be fine,” he said. Great, skeptic looks from both members of the peanut gallery. “I mean…I’d like to give it a try, alright? If I get stuck, I’ll come to you guys, okay? But I’d like to try this on my own.”

No objections. They could handle that much.

“Then that settles it!” Lavi jumped to his feet and patted the back of Allen’s chair. “I think this meeting is as good as concluded. We’ll reconvene as needed.” He grinned, resisting the urge to give Allen a strong clap on the arm. “It’s in your hands, Brit, so go for it!”

Ivy also stood, brushing off her pants. “Good luck, Allen-san,” she said. “We’re here for you.”

And maybe it shouldn’t have, but that little bit of reassurance made Allen feel like he was actually ready for this, even if it was only just a little. In some cases, a little could happen to be just enough.

* * *

Allen left shortly after, bundled up in his jacket and managing to hum despite the bitter cold. Ivy hoped he would be okay walking, but the Brit had concluded that things were fine and went about his merry way. While Ivy was glad there wasn’t an excuse for Lavi to escape the conversation, concern seemed to still be nagging at the back of her mind.

_Well, at least there’s that._

Shaking the feeling off, Ivy stood, crossing her arms. Lavi was significantly taller than her, but that didn’t mean she had to lose intimidation grounds on it. “Why don’t you take a seat, Lavi?” she said, still keeping her voice at a moderate tone. Things tended to be scarier when they seemed like they weren’t going to be.

Lavi went back for his chair, and Ivy took the opportunity to roll it across the room. Lavi grimaced but managed to turn it into a smile “Don’t mind if I do,” he chirped, sitting directly in the middle of the couch. It was still warm from where Ivy had been sitting before. “So, I’m sure you wanna chat?”

_That_ was a goddamn understatement, but why not add fuel to the fire anyway? It was already rearing to be a raging inferno at this point, and not the fun disco kind.

Ivy didn’t instantly flare up, though, and Lavi had to admit he was a bit impressed. Maybe things were better this way; dealing with Ivy held the possibility of Kanda leaving him alone in the future. Then again, looking back at the dodgeball match and a few other select incidents, Ivy could be equally if not more ruthless.

_Well, go big or go home. And seeing as I’m already home…_

“What the hell was that on Friday?” Ivy demanded, the furrowing of her eyebrows tightening up her skin. She raised a hand to her temple, and Lavi hoped she didn’t have a migraine. “You were definitely in trouble, then you just disappeared! I had to fucking _break a table_ because of you, and I hate that shit.” Ivy tried to take the deep breath route before letting out a frustrated growl. Repression was not always the answer, and she hadn’t been able to vent whatsoever about the whole fiasco.

Lavi blinked at the mention of the table, though that sounded like a tale that could wait for when Ivy wasn’t livid. “Look, I’m sorry I screwed up,” Lavi said, and he meant it. He had made a promise—several, really—and he had broken them. That was just wrong on several levels. “I really wanted to get out of it without bothering you guys, and then I did. I was just so focused on getting the hell out of there I forgot to tell you guys.” Save driving was not an option; driving was a privilege after all! Lavi did a lot of stupid things, but getting on his phone while driving wasn’t one of them, especially in the middle of winter.

Ivy felt some of her tension ease up. He seemed genuine enough, and this level of irritation just wasn’t healthy for her, period. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Ivy dropped to the couch beside him. “You’re welcome for not having to pay a bill, by the way,” she grumbled, which reminded her… “Though you owe our waitress a big giant tip. Her name’s Sachiko-san and I expect you to pay her back for all the trouble I had to cause her.”

“And how do you propose I do that? I have to be banned from the place.”

“You’re smart. You figure it out.”

Lavi snorted. Sure, Ivy’s mood could switch a little bit more quickly, but: “You and Yu-pon are made for each other, Ivy-chan.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t worry about it. How about I drive you home?”

* * *

It was amazing how much you could hear through walls when you understood the theory. One summer vacation between middle school years, Ari had gone through the trouble of learning where all the weak structural spots were in the house. If you exploited those, eavesdropping was pretty easy.

Ari had suspected it when she had flipped through her (then sleeping) brother’s notebook, but this pretty much confirmed it. This whole TRIangular nonsense was a way for Allen to sort out his feelings. Part of Ari felt a bit down at that, but she had to be grateful she had even been given a chance. Besides, even if Allen was going to be asking Lenalee out, he was doing it to be fair.

All things considered, Ari _had_ gotten there first.

_No, don’t be that way._

Ivy and Lavi left out the side garage door, winter air slamming it shut behind them. That meant Ari would have the house to herself for approximately a half hour, which worked out well. Standing up to work the kinks out of her neck (of _course_ the indoor weak spot of the garage was practically next to the floor), Ari skipped towards her room, retrieving her cellphone from her pocket.

It took a couple of rings for Johnny to pick up, but that was okay. They barely exchanged greetings before Ari had even made it to the kitchen. “Incident confirmed: one older brother up to something, over,” she reported, pouring herself a glass of pineapple juice.

_“Oh? What’s going on?”_

And so Ari told him to the best of her ability. Given that she was a Bookman, there was plenty to share.

“I don’t know how to counteract it, but I definitely don’t like it,” Ari declared. Johnny made an understand sound across the phone line. She could hear the sound of scissors—Sundays were his tailoring days after all. “It sounds like they’re trying to keep Nii-san subdued, which actually works out for me. But no one ever said I had to play fair, right?”

A technicality if anyone had ever seen one. Even without knowing the whole situation, Johnny had to admit that was somewhat true. He had already committed to this whole endeavor with the dress, might as well keep going. And as long as nobody got hurt.

_“What do I have to do?”_

“We need to run a counter mission,” Ari decided, taking a sip from her glass. You really had to savor these things. “We’ll run alongside them for a while, just to keep things simple.” She was going to need Lavi’s notes for that. “And then when the right moment arises, we’ll strike in. Oh, whatcha say? Operation Parallel Interception is go!”

If it weren’t for the fact that Ari was partially working against him, Lavi would have been proud.


	26. 26. Bragging (and Other Forms of Confidence)

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

26\. Bragging (and Other Forms of Confidence)

* * *

“The vegetables have entered the pot. Repeat: the vegetables are in the pot.”

“Was that really necessary?”

“Affirmative.”

Lenalee tried her best not to sigh or yawn at the situation. It was the end of the day, and she could head home and rest up soon enough. The weekend cleaning of the house had been successful, albeit it had taken up most of her time. Lenalee hadn’t been able to do plan her outfits ahead, and she had barely had enough time to do her homework, but that was life sometimes. At least it was possible to eat without fear of causing a not-so-small avalanche.

Now if only taking home ec hadn’t suddenly become such an exhausting experience.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but keeping up the usual polite deal was a bit more than Lenalee could handle right now. Ari was still monologuing over their pot of boiling vegetables for their lesson on side dishes, and Lenalee wasn’t sure she completely liked just how much the younger girl seemed to be smiling.

_I mean, something’s going on, but…did something happen with Allen?_

Jealousy was an ugly thing, and Lenalee would never admit to it out loud. But that didn’t change the fact that Lenalee wasn’t going to lose this one, no matter what. At the very least, she wouldn’t let Ari win, either. But Lavi had been acting weirder than usual on top of his scheming, and Allen had blushed significantly whenever Ari had even talked in his general direction at lunch. Something _had_ to have happened, and Lenalee was out of the loop.

Well now, that just wasn’t right!

Lenalee double checked the rice in their second pot, then went back to mixing the spices they had compromised on. At least, when it came to cooking, the two girls had similar taste buds, so they didn’t argue about that so much as they disagreed on everything else. Slipping her finger into her mouth for a quick taste test, Lenalee eyed her partner.

“So how was your weekend?”

Ari smiled brilliantly. She was good at that part; never letting her expression waver, even if it was a challenge of sorts. Of course, this smile was a genuine reflection of happiness: no amount of stupidity from her brother could make Ari stop being excited over her kiss. That was something she wanted nothing more than to brag about, but that didn’t mean this was the right time.

_Play your cards smart, Ari._

“It was great,” she settled on, her grin not dimming in the least. “I went out on Friday night, and it was just the best!” Ari let out a happy sigh. She would recall the memory now if it didn’t have the potential of making her vegetables soggy. “And you, Lenalee-san?”

Now that was suspicious if Lenalee had ever heard it, but pressing now would be too obvious. Stay cautious, and get to it when the time’s right. “I stayed in all weekend,” she admitted. Ari rose an eyebrow, but Lenalee ignored it. “I had to force Nii-san to clean up his mess that he’s left all over the house.” Most students had either taken one of Komui’s courses or at least had passed by his classroom at some point. It was a mess, his desk coated in assignments he had yet to grade and return. Lenalee had a large chunk of Ari’s sincerest condolences if the house was even roughly similar. “But you said you had a date, Ari? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

Bait dispersed. Ari could read it in an instant; that wasn’t even a question. Now, how to approach it, that was the real part. Lavi had a penchant for secret missions. Allen would be too shy. Ari didn’t know much about Ivy, but she didn’t think the older girl was suited much for gossip. None of them probably planned to mention things to Lenalee, and it could ultimately screw up what Allen was aiming for.

_Oh, who cares?_

She had _earned_ that date. Even if it was just being nice, even if Lenalee and Allen would probably be going out sometime soon, Ari had gotten there first!

“I’m not seeing anyone,” she said, because that was unfortunately true. But that was fine, because Allen had given her a chance, and maybe he would give her another one soon. “But I did go on a date with Allen-san Friday night.”

In all fairness, she _had_ at least waited until Lenalee had put the rice pot down. It wouldn’t do any good for anyone to get burnt in the process. That would just dampen Ari’s victory, and she wouldn’t stand for that.

Ari grinned a bit, enjoying just how many colors Lenalee’s face shifted through before landing on a frustrated red. It even reached the tips of the Chinese girl’s ears. “Hey, did you know? Allen-san’s lips are soft. Like, _seriously._ ”

_This little she did not she did not—!_

“Alright, everyone, time to get your dishes ready!” Jerry called, putting a stop to what could have been a nasty bloodbath. Black Order High didn’t need another excuse to call an ambulance—they had been doing so well this year! Ari giggled as she strained the vegetables, recovering the seasoning from a less than responsive Lenalee, and set about plating their assignment for the day.

Jerry made sure to keep an eye on them as the last ten minutes of class went by. Girls were amazing in so many ways, but they could also be pretty dangerous. As a teacher, it was his job to make sure things didn’t get too bad.

Ari went home in the same high spirits experienced the day she had successfully asked Allen out.

Lenalee may have apologized afterwards, but that didn’t change the fact that there was now a rather nasty dent in her neighbor’s locker.

* * *

Wednesday came too quickly, and Allen knew that he was running out of time.

Lavi had been surprisingly quiet about the situation—Allen had been expecting multiple questions per day concerning the plan, but it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe Lavi was being a lot more respectful or maybe he just had something else on his mind. In any event, that could only last for so long. Ivy had been giving Allen meaningful glances over the lunch table and in the halls, and they both knew that once the halfway mark of the week passed, keeping Lavi sedated would be whole lot harder.

“You gotta do it, Allen-san,” Ivy said, lagging behind their group as they exited from lunch. Kanda tossed his girlfriend a glance but separated to head to his locker in less of a huff than Allen had expected. “I don’t wanna rush you, but time is kinda of the essence here.”

“Thanks, Ivy, as if I wasn’t nervous enough,” Allen grumbled. The crowds in the halls were enough to cover up the conversation, so being secretive wasn’t completely necessary. Still, Allen had eaten less of his lunch than usual, and there had been concerned glances as the Brit actually threw some of his leftovers away. It was unheard of.

“No, that’s—” Ivy sighed, looking apologetic. “I just want to help. I know it’s a hard thing to do, but I believe in you. You and Lenalee have your free period next, right? Ari will be in class, and so will Komui. You shouldn’t have much trouble.”

What food Allen had eaten (which was still a sizable amount compared to everyone else) churned instantly, his stomach becoming a mixer set on high. He had completely forgotten about Komui. How in the world had he forgotten about Komui?

“Bloody hell,” Allen breathed, his face turning an unhealthy shade of white. If he lost any more circulation, his skin tone would match his hair. Ivy quickly tried to backpedal, putting a hand on Allen’s back to keep him moving through the crowds.

“You got this,” she asserted, trying to sound more confident than she had felt. How had they not thought about Komui in their stupid little TRIangular meeting? The science teacher was arguably the most important part in the equation—more than Lenalee and Allen themselves even! “Take the chance now, while Komui’s busy with class. And just know that if Lenalee wants to go, she’ll make it happen, okay?” Ivy tried rubbing a few circles into Allen’s back to relax him, but he didn’t relax any. “Sorry, I gotta get going or I’ll be late for class. I believe in you, Allen.”

Yeah, Ivy believed in him.

Because that did a whole bloody lot when you were about to walk into certain death!

Allen approached his locker with more than a sense of dread coursing through his veins. This, this was absolutely resignation. It was either get killed by Komui or have Lavi act as the third party, which would also lead to getting killed by Komui. Allen should probably write a will beforehand. He didn’t have much, but he at least needed to make sure that Tim was put in good hands.

Allen usually spent his free period relaxing in the library or occasionally hanging around the music classrooms. Lenalee tended to be more social and took the opportunity to hang around with other students or making new friends. There weren’t many people at Black Order High that Lenalee didn’t know, and Allen had the delayed realization of just how popular his friend was.

_And I’m trying to ask her out?!_

He tried to take deep breaths. He really did. He collected his books for his class afterwards and wandered down the sophomore hallways, wondering if Lenalee was still around. Come to think of it, he was never sure where Lenalee went, only that she would be somewhere in the school, and that was about it. At least he could eliminate her being outside with the weather.

Well, there was no need to play this stupidly. Allen reopened his locker, retrieving his cellphone from his locker and turning it on. He usually played the good student card, but he wasn’t exactly supposed to be in class right now, and this _was_ an emergency of sorts. Turning the sound off, Allen quickly typed out a text.

_[Hey, you wanna hang out?]_

It was the most casual way he could think of it. There wasn’t any way he could type “I have something to ask you.” Lenalee was perfectly fine with communication in the written word over human speech. This was something that had to be done in person, or not done at all.

The response came to his phone almost immediately: _[Sure where @?]_

 _As far away from Komui as humanly possible,_ Allen thought, glancing down the hall. The sophomore lockers were all lined up next to the science classes, and Allen’s sense of foreboding only got worse. What if Komui could hear his thoughts? The man seemed to have some sort of sixth-sense concerning his sister. If anything supernatural truly existed in this world, it was Komui.

 _[The art work rooms are usually free.]_ And on the other side of the building for that matter. _[See you in a few?]_

_[Yeah see ya! :)]_

Allen might have walked a bit faster than necessary to his destination, but it wasn’t running. No hall monitor could catch him alive. Once he got to the stairwell that lead next to the art rooms, Allen slowed down a bit. This was happening. This was really happening. He was going to ask Lee Lenalee out, and then he was going to fall over and probably never wake up. That was, assuming he could get his mouth to even form the words.

_How in the world did Ari do this?!_

He walked more on autopilot than anything. The art department wasn’t overly large, but they got enough funding that there were a few separate “study rooms” stocked up with art supplies and the like nearby. While most students that Allen had seen were fine with using the art room on a regular basis, every now and then someone would take their project into a private room, presumably for more space or silence.

Of course, they were pretty perfect niches to spend your free period, too, especially if other study rooms were taken up.

Lenalee was already inside one, and she waved once she saw Allen through the window in the door. Allen waved back, and tried his best to steel himself. At least if he was walking into death, he could hold his head high. Squaring his shoulders, Allen opened the door and stepped inside, grabbing a chair from the wall and sitting across from Lenalee.

The first thing he noticed was that she looked cute today. Well, Lenalee had a tendency to look cute regardless—she worked hard for her appearance, after all! But today Allen just _noticed_ more, the way the tights curved around her legs to show off both her boots and skirt, the way the colors in her top played off the gray of her eyes. Feeling his mouth go dry, Allen settled for eye contact. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Lenalee responded in kind, smiling. “Man, it feels like it’s been a while since we just hung out, huh? It’s funny—we got together all the time during that SSGTIK nonsense, but now everyone’s kind of doing their own thing…” Allen couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty at that; everyone had been running around because of him after all, and Lenalee had been left rather spectacularly out of the loop.

Allen did his best not to laugh nervously—ah, why had he agreed to keep this TRIangular mess secret, he would never know. “We should hang out more then,” he said, recognizing it as the perfect segway into asking the question. Lenalee seemed to perk up a bit at the words, but it wasn’t overt. She was definitely subtler than Ari was for sure. “I dunno we could…have a big group get together on the weekend or something.”

Operation: Turn Tail and Run for the Hills—resounding success.

“Oh, yeah, that’d be fun.” She looked over Allen, trying to find some sign that he had changed, but she couldn’t find anything. Ari’s words were still nagging her, and even know they wouldn’t go away. _Especially_ now. Had she and Allen really gone on a date? Kissed? She expected something physical—didn’t romance novels always talk about how there was a difference in the ways, a softness to their expression. Either all those books were full of crap, or Ari was lying.

Both was also an option, but Lenalee really preferred the second one.

Allen resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it—that would be much too obvious now wouldn’t it? He settled on just breathing like a normal person, but even his lungs seemed to be protesting to the idea. At least he wasn’t blushing like a moron.

_Come on, you can do this!_

“I mean, what would we do in a big group like that?” Lenalee mused, trying to keep the conversation going. I guess we could meet up at my place, since we just cleaned it. Though Komui might cause a racket.” Both teens chuckled at that. Komui had a tendency to glare out any potential male guest to their home, with increased intensity the closer they were to his sister age bracket. The small puddle of confidence that Allen had been generating froze over. “I guess maybe a movie marathon would be nice.”

Allen nodded his approval. This hadn’t been the goal, but maybe… He thought it over. Putting Komui’s…tendencies aside, if Allen didn’t get this date, Lavi was going to push it. And Allen didn’t think any amount of potential violence from Ivy would stop the Bookman from trying to shove one Brit and one Lenalady together, even if he couldn’t pick a worse location.

“Or we could go shopping,” Allen blurted out. Those words caught Lenalee’s attention, and _there_ was the eyes lighting up level of enthusiasm. Well, there was no going back now, not that Allen ever really suspected there was an out to this situation in the first place.

“Shopping, huh?” Lenalee had an almost mischievous glint to her expression, and Allen felt worried for a split second. If they all went together that was at least three guys. Subtract Kanda because he would already have Ivy to take care of, but that was still two extra bodies Lenalee could use to help carry things around. Spring fashion would be coming sooner than anyone thought, and she needed to be prepared. “It might be a bit chaotic as a group, but I think we could make that work…”

 _Oh, God, oh, God._ He needed to just say it. Get it out there, then he could worry about everything else. “I meant together,” Allen managed, and _that_ brought about one of the most awkward pauses either teen had experienced. “Just, you know, me and you? This Saturday?” _Like a date?_

_Please someone help me._

Lenalee’s brain immediately jumped to saying yes, but she stopped herself just in time. This was great and all—one thousand percent wonderful at that!—but Ari had claimed to have gone on a date with Allen. This was too sudden, and some lecture Komui had given her on how boys were _awful creatures that two-time girls_ came to mind. But this was Allen Walker they were talking about, and Lenalee knew that he would never do anything to hurt her, especially not on purpose.

_Then I guess things didn’t work out as well as Ari wanted me to believe._

Lenalee went to smile, but found that she already was.

“I’d love to,” she said, ready to almost burst out of her seat. Allen also felt ready to burst, albeit for different reasons. “We can shop and grab lunch and stuff. It’ll be fun!” It took a lot of willpower not to go for her cellphone and gush about the good news, but Lenalee managed it. The rest of the free period was filled with general small talk and the discussion of actually having a group get together somewhere along the line.

Allen managed that part just fine, but that didn’t stop his brain from overheating as the bell rang and Lenalee skipped off to class, leaving one beyond frazzled Brit to try and clean up his insides properly before he went to History class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Fairygirl34 for the kudos!


	27. 27. “As Natural as Possible”

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

27\. “As Natural as Possible”

* * *

Lenalee experienced the rest of the day in a sort of haze built from happiness. It took a lot more willpower than she had liked to not brag to Ari about the recent string of events, but that was just how things went sometimes. Lenalee settled for not even engaging in her usual banter with the redheaded girl and talking only when necessary. Ari frowned most of the time, and Lenalee suspected that the girl wasn’t too pleased.

_Well who cares about that anymore?!_

Komui needed to stay after school for the Science Club meeting, and Lenalee escaped to the bus before he could insist on her staying behind. She wished she had her own car, given that she _had_ earned her license last spring, but Komui was still paranoid about that particular situation. Plus he preferred to be her ride to school, and sometimes it was just easier to go along with Komui than agree.

Normally, Lenalee wouldn’t have had much trouble waiting on her brother, but today was a bit different.

Now that she had thought about it—like, _really_ thought about it—she knew this situation wasn’t normal. Everyone had been acting suspicious, and Lenalee didn’t want to believe it, but she didn’t think Ari was the type to lie just to get the better of Lenalee. There had to be some truth in it; Allen _had_ gone on a date with Ari, and (someone, please gag her!) they had more than likely kissed.

So why was Allen turning around and asking Lenalee on a date not even a week afterwards?

Simple: this situation had _Lavi_ written all over it.

Lenalee’s bus stop wasn’t too far from the school, and she was home within fifteen minutes. Part of her worried that she’d find Komui’s car in the driveway—it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d had a panic attack over his sister—but there was no one there. Lenalee retrieved her house key and went inside, not even checking the mail and heading straight for her room.

Most of the decorations in the house had been picked out by their parents, but they didn’t exactly go together anymore. Everything had been moved over to their new home years ago, and Komui had haphazardly set things up the best he could. New pieces of furniture had come, gone, come and some gone again, but a lot was the same as Lenalee’s childhood home, save for when Komui’s crazed experiments started taking over the place.

That’s why Lenalee spent most of her time in her room when Komui wasn’t home. It was one of the few rooms to drastically change over the years—as Lenalee grew from child to young adult. Komui had spared no expense on letting her rebuild the room to her whims, and thus Lenalee’s room was a space that felt completely like hers, and not just a reflection of a house she no longer lived in. There were still stuffed animals strewn about, a corner was dedicated to her schoolwork and a computer way more expensive than she needed, and everything was in shades of green, making the room feel like a garden of some sorts.

Dropping her backpack by the door and settling into her desk chair, Lenalee unlocked her cellphone and started to dial Lavi’s number. Hopefully he would be out of earshot of his sister, but Lenalee couldn’t really say she minded either way. It was Lavi who would have to deal with the problem, and while he was her friend, he was really doing it this time.

_“Hey there, Lenalady!”_ Lavi chirped, music in the background dying out as he presumably fumbled with the volume controls. Well, he was still in a pretty chipper mood, so he had stopped being suspicious—too bad Lenalee had been on to him since he started asking questions about love triangles. _“What do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice today?”_

Lenalee let herself giggle. Yes, Lavi was ridiculous, but he was still fun, and enough to take her worries away. “I just wanted to check on you,” she said. No, that was not a lie. Just because she wasn’t getting right to the punch didn’t mean her concerns were false—she knew how to manipulate people, but this wasn’t really the time! “You doing okay? Calmed down any?”

She could hear Lavi hum a little bit, like he was on the verge of words but not quite sure how to say them. _“I’m doin’ better I guess,”_ he offered, though Lenalee could tell he was putting more thought into his words than usual. Never a good sign with Lavi. _“I don’t think I’ve really figured anything out yet, but I’m getting by. Nothing crazy, either.”_

“That’s good.” Lenalee knew this sort of thing could be tough, but Lavi could get through it. She would be his support, because he was always there for her. “Though I don’t know about anything crazy,” she added, making sure there was a lilt in her voice. She may not have been able to see Lavi directly, but she could imagine well enough. “Seems like you’ve been up to an awful lot without me.”

_“Aw, come on, Lenalady, don’t be that way,”_ Lavi cooed, trying to sound reassuring. _“I haven’t been doing anything at all, just the usual—classes, bugging Yu-pon, going out to eat since I’m too lazy to cook…”_

“Oh, really?” Lenalee went to take down her pigtails, the phone nestled between her ear and shoulder. “Is that why Allen is suddenly aware that girls like him and is actively taking them out on dates without telling anyone else? Because that sounds like something he would do only with prompting to me.”

Silence from Lavi. If anything, Lenalee swore he was trying to turn his music back up.

“Did you really think you could leave me out of this, Colonel?”

_“Sorry, Commodore,”_ Lavi immediately responded. Lenalee smiled, setting her hair ties on the desk and combing her hair out with her fingers. He seemed apologetic enough. _“Brit didn’t want to cause a scene, so we’re taking a more subtle approach this time. He wants to give both you and Ari a chance.”_

“Well, I don’t know about subtle…”Lenalee mused. Taking more than one girl out on a date in a short span of time was pushing Allen’s character a bit, but she’d make an exception for this request, especially if it was what Allen wanted. “Still, I’m not entirely happy here about being second. What’s up with that?”

Lavi didn’t sound as distressed as Lenalee had expected. Calls of _favoritism_ were dancing around in the less then pleasant parts of her brain, but she could be a little edgy after Ari had bragged, right? _“It’s not like you or Ari managed to meet the Brit first—we’ve all known him roughly the same amount of time,”_ Lavi said, and Lenalee knew it was true. _“Ari just happened to get there first, and we worked around that.”_

Lenalee frowned. Ari was taking the initiative. That meant, while Allen hadn’t actively sought the situation, he had accepted. Lenalee was at the disadvantage here, no doubt about that. She had to give Saturday her A Game then—A+ if she could manage it.

“Fair enough,” she admitted, though she was starting to feel a bit bitter. This whole thing wasn’t pity, right? No, Allen definitely wasn’t like that, just like he definitely wasn’t about two-timing anyone. He was approaching this honestly, so she should, too. “I’m not gonna ask too many questions, ‘cause getting answers might make this a bit unfair. But you are keeping this balanced, right Lavi?”

_“Of course! Ivy-chan would kill me if I didn’t.”_ The words were a mix of reassuring and not-so-assuring all at once. Only Lavi… _“We want this to be as natural as possible.”_ Lavi let out an exaggerated gasp. _“The drama! The suspense! Who will win the Brit’s heart? It’s a one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day event!”_

And Lenalee laughed, because maybe a little drama every now and then wasn’t so bad.

* * *

Johnny tended to have a pretty busy schedule between both the science and chess clubs, and the approaching Robot Fight Club only made things more complicated. Johnny still had a lot of work left on his own project, but Thursdays were his sanctuary. Not only did he not have clubs in the afternoon, Johnny let himself relax during his free period instead of retreating to the science labs. This particular Thursday, however, he had been trusted with a mission, and it was one he had a limited amount of time to complete.

Johnny wandered a little bit up the science hallway and peaked his head into Reever’s classroom, which according to Ari was holding a study hall at the moment, and that was where Allen was. Sure enough, the shock of white hair was near the back of the classroom, next to the red poof that was Lavi. How Ari had learned everyone’s schedules by then was beyond Johnny, but he had realized a long time ago there were things that he didn’t necessarily need to know about his friend.

Everything was a lot safer that way, that was for sure.

Reever noticed Johnny standing at the doorway and waved him into the classroom. Maybe it was just a side-effect of being close to the science department, but Reever tended to give Johnny a bit of slack. Johnny smiled in appreciation and headed back to where Allen and Lavi were sitting, turning around an empty desk to face them.

“Hey, guys.” The others returned the greeting as Johnny settled in. Allen looked like he was trying to work his way through a chapter of his biology textbook, notebook at the ready, while Lavi had absolutely nothing on his desk save for his elbows. “Sorry for interrupting. I figured I’d hang out since I’m free right now.”

“No problem,” Allen said, putting a stray worksheet in his book to mark the place and closing it. “I wasn’t getting anywhere, anyways.” A gray-colored glare was sent in the redhead’s direction, but Lavi only grinned. “You’re usually really busy, Johnny. I’m surprised you stopped by.”

Johnny chuckled, playing with the ends of his jacket sleeve. “Well, I needed a break,” he said. This was turning out to be a bit more complicated than he had anticipated—Ari hadn’t mentioned her brother would be here. Then again, who said that had to be a disadvantage to the situation? It wasn’t quite like chess, but Johnny still had to be able to use the positions on the board in his favor. “Actually, I wanted to ask you some questions about Ari.”

It wasn’t really an atmospheric shift—metaphorically or actually, for either case—but Johnny did get to experience Allen’s face heat up. The young scientist felt a bit bad about prying like this, but Lavi was more of the chill/I’m-secretly-terrified-of-my-younger-sister older brother type, so he wouldn’t play too much of the overprotective card. This could still be a peaceful meeting.

“What about her?” Allen was suddenly very conscious of the fact that there were other people in their study hall, even though none of them were looking at him. The others were either working (gasp!) or (the majority) were taking advantage of Reever’s lackadaisical attitude and chatting with their own friends. That didn’t make Allen any less paranoid, though. If someone overheard and that information made its way to either Ari or Lenalee…

“How you feel about her,” Johnny went straight for the punch. It might not have been particularly strong, but it did manage to catch Allen off guard, and that was enough. “She’s been really excited about getting closer to you, and as her friend—actually, as a friend of both of you—I wanna know what’s going on.”

Well, that and Ari had kind of asked him to, but that was beside the point.

Allen stammered a bit, reigning his volume to below standard speaking levels. “I-I don’t know, there’s somethings I need to consider before…”

“Aw, come on, Brit,” Lavi interrupted, leaning closer to his friend’s side. “You can’t have that half-hearted of an answer, can you?” Sure, he knew Allen was trying to play things fair, and he would let that answer slide when Ivy was around. But, not only would it look weird to Johnny if Lavi didn’t press on, the redhead wanted to know for himself. Things were just more fun this way.

Rabbits could be surprisingly curious creatures.

_Ah, you’ve gotta be kidding me,_ Allen internally griped. Lavi was looking on with a genuine curiosity, and Johnny seemed oddly determined to reach an answer. Allen tried to figure out a way to avoid the awkwardness of this situation, but he didn’t quite have the speed of thought at the moment to pull that off.

“You guys are jerks,” Allen grumbled. Lavi only grinned.

“That’s what friends are for, Brit!” The redhead dropped an arm around his smaller friend’s shoulder, pulling him even closer before he caught himself. Hopefully Allen couldn’t hear the sound of Lavi’s heart. Maybe if he covered it up with more words… “Now, spill the beans. How do you feel about my baby sister? Oh, but talking as your friend and not her brother, you dig?”

Because that made all the difference. At least Lavi thought so. Allen was more inclined to believe that just made this situation even more awkward. Johnny was just glad to have found a surprising ally in this mess. Ari had said Lavi was pushing Allen into trying to resolve his feelings, but that didn’t mean a little help couldn’t help out.

“Alright.” Allen sighed, not even bothering to shrug out of Lavi’s one armed hug. The redhead retreated on his own, but not after giving one last squeeze to his friend’s shoulder. “I…I’m really not sure, okay?” Lavi opened his mouth—probably to be overdramatic—and Johnny frowned, but Allen raised a gloved hand. “It’s just… Things feel like they’ve been going way too fast lately, and it’s been messing with my head. But I will say I don’t…dislike her.” _Or Lenalee for that matter._ He was starting to understand the seemingly consistent urge to murder Lavi that Ivy and Kanda seemed to share.

Lavi tried to process the words, wondering how this would factor into Saturday’s outing. Johnny processed, too, trying to figure out if Ari would be satisfied with that. No, definitely not, and he wasn’t satisfied, either. That wasn’t nearly enough information! “Is there anything you _do_ like about her, then?” Johnny asked, drawing a flinch out of Allen.

The white-haired boy glanced to Lavi. There was no help in that expression, only a… _timid_ curiosity?

_What the bollocks has gotten into everyone?_ Lavi was partially reserved, Johnny was forward, and Ari and Lenalee were suddenly in love with him or something? This was a bloody mess.

And how.

“She’s nice, okay?” Allen said. Ah, that was lame. Two deadpan stares told him so, not that he needed the reminder. “She’s bubbly and fun and has a certain energy to her.” Kind of like Lavi, but a girl. No, that was just a sexist approach to things. He could do better than that. “I guess, she just makes me think about things differently, and I kind of like that. Plus she’s…” How many times was he gonna blush in just one class period. And could Lavi and Johnny possibly lean in any closer?!

Yes, yes they could. But Allen would rather avoid that situation.

“She’s cute, okay?” Allen blurted. That made his friends back up, both smiling. Lavi’s was a bit more subdued than usual, but Allen was just glad we could breathe. He inhaled, letting out his air in more of a huff than he had meant to. “Now, are you two have any more questions, or can I actually use my study hall to _study_?”

“Aw, who wants to do that, Brit?”

“People who actually have to _work_ for their grades?”

Johnny eased back into his chair, reaching for his own notebook. There were still some unanswered questions he had, but that was good enough. Ari would probably be pleased with that much information. She could certainly use it to make things easier for the future.

Besides, he had a robot to design anyway.

* * *

“So, everything’s going well.”

Kanda looked up from his worksheet at Ivy’s words. Free period had rolled around, and there was homework to get out of the way, not to mention quality time to be had. It was really a wonder that Lavi avoided them, but Kanda guessed that there were some cases where the Rabbit actually valued his life.

“Allen managed to ask Lenalee out with no problems,” Ivy continued, twisting the eraser of her mechanical pencil. “We’re gonna be spending Saturday at the mall. Lavi and I will do recon together. I think we should be done before things get too late.”

Kanda didn’t particularly care about all the details, but he guessed he felt better knowing than not knowing, even if knowing irritated him beyond belief. Ivy and Lavi running around all day? Kanda liked to think we was above petty jealousy, but thinking didn’t exactly make those things true.

“Will this plan go as ‘well’ as last time?” he asked. Yes, he was still bitter about the entire evening at Millennial, but who could blame him? Okay, maybe that waitress and the table that Ivy had miraculously broken, but one of those was an inanimate object, so it didn’t quite have the same impact.

He expected Ivy to look a bit nervous, or a little apprehensive. He could tell this whole situation stressed her out at times—she wasn’t all the way there at times, spacing out in the middle of conversations or pausing midsentence while working on her homework. But now she just looked determined, her sheer tenacity shining through, and Kanda guessed that wasn’t so bad, either.

“I’ll kill him if it doesn’t,” Ivy resolved, and Kanda guessed he didn’t have to worry. Not about her.

He did frown, though, the realization hitting him. “So if you’re doing that tomorrow, you won’t have time to get together?” They had only been dating for a few months, but homework on Saturdays had become a habit. It was their time, and Kanda was pretty sure that Ivy had made it clear that her personal life was not to be interfered with.

Right?

“Ah, dammit,” Ivy muttered. “I didn’t even realize, I just wanted to get this out of the way.” She looked to Kanda, apologies shining in her eyes. “Sorry, I should’ve—”

“It’s okay,” Kanda tried. Sure, it partially pissed him off, but not because of her. “Don’t worry about it, I know—”

“How about I come over tonight?”

The words brought a silence. Kanda wasn’t sure how to answer that. He couldn’t just turn it down, but there were certain things to consider.

“I’m serious,” Ivy said. That determination was back, shining a bit brighter than before. She looked a lot more confident than she looked. “We can work on things then. And if we don’t finish things up, we can go ahead and get together Sunday.” She took a breath, feeling the shake in her windpipe. “How does that sound?”

Kanda smiled, reaching for Ivy’s hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. “Sounds fucking perfect.”


	28. 28. Myriad Madness: Arrival

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

28\. Myriad Madness: Arrival

* * *

“This isn’t right, Reever, this just isn’t right. What if something happens to my Lenalee? What if Allen hurts her? I won’t stand for it, I won’t! Lenalee isn’t even old enough to be dating anyone, you know. She should be focusing on life and school and enjoying those memories instead of trying to get caught up in romance. She’ll only end up crying.” A loud and not-even-exaggerated (at least to the speaker) gasp. “If Lenalee cries I’ll make Allen regret it. Not just in science class, in everything. That boy still has two more years of high school left and I’ll be there for every last second, just you wait!”

One Lee Komui ranted these words into the phone at a less-than amused Reever. The two had known each other ever since Komui had begun teaching at Black Order High School, and some days he still regretted it. Most of the time he was able to remember that—despite being a disorganized freak with a massive sister complex—Komui _was_ a capable scientist in his own right and could be reliable when people needed.

Or when people didn’t need it as well. This sort of rambling was the standard whenever anything happened involving Lenalee. Things had started to get worse when she entered high school and dating became an option, but she had always turned boys down, so things had never gotten this bad.

_“Um, you do realize this is Allen Walker we’re talking about, right?”_ Reever asked, trying to bring some sanity into this conversation. It probably wouldn’t work, but no one could say that he hadn’t tried. _“Allen’s a good kid; he wouldn’t hurt Lenalee, and definitely not on purpose.”_ Reever currently had Allen in his Biology course, and there wasn’t a mean hair on that kid’s body. Of course, as always, Reever had to bite back the words _So stop overreacting_.

Well, it was never a boring day when Lee Komui was around…

“But what if he hurts her on accident?” Komui immediately protested, a response at the ready. The idea of anything happening to his wonderful sister of all people just made him despair and anger all at one. Any wrongdoing to Lenalee was absolute injustice! “High school romances are doomed to fail. I can’t stand to have Lenalee heartbroken! Of course, I’ll be there to take care of her if she needs me—I am her big brother after all—but it would be better if she didn’t have to experience that pain in the first place.”

_“Well—”_ Reever attempted, only to have Komui continue on with his tirade. Reever sometimes wondered what would happen if he just hung up in these situations.

“But wait, what if it works out?” Komui’s face paled. This was definitely a troubling prospect. “What if they’re happy together and they actually have a successful relationship and they go to prom and college together and move in and get married and have kids? No, no, nonono! That can’t happen! My Lenalee’s too young to be a mother!”

_“Boss—”_ Well, at least Reever was trying. You had to give him that much.

“I need to stop this. Lenalee doesn’t realize what she’s getting into.” Komui pushed aside the gears he had been toying with, almost knocking several items off his desk. All that hard work at cleaning up and his office was a mess already. But who cared—his office could go to hell, he needed to help his sister! Komui stood up, hanging up the phone without warning and sending Reever into radio silence. Komui headed to the door; he still had time. Lenalee hadn’t left yet, she hadn’t even said goodbye—

“Later, Nii-san! I’m gonna borrow the car today, alright? I’ll be home before dinner!”

And so Lenalee skipped down the hallway and out the front door, Komui’s car keys in her hand. Aforementioned older brother was too stunned by her cuteness to even think of a response. She had really gone all out with her outfit today—one thousand percent adorable. Lenalee was cute on an ordinary day, but this was a whole other level.

_So then…she’s serious about this?!_

“No, wait, Lenalee, don’t go! It’s still winter, it snowed last night, the roads are going to be dangerous! I know you have your license but you shouldn’t risk yourself for some boy. Allen’s not worth it! I’m not ready to be an uncle! Lena _leeeeeeee_!”

* * *

Ivy stood up from the breakfast table, dishes in hand. She didn’t have much cooking skill, and neither did Kanda, but together they had managed to whip up some good rice, soup, and fish. It had actually tasted pretty nice, too, which was an added bonus. Add in the fact that this was the first non-school prepared breakfast she and Kanda had shared together, and it made for a pretty sweet memory.

Except for the fact that this was a total accident and Ivy wasn’t really supposed to be here.

The evening beforehand had been pretty nice. All homework had been completed, and the tag team of Japanese teens had managed to prepare soba for dinner. Ivy had been packing up her things to go home before they realized that had been snowing. Not bad enough, but there was still a layer of snow on the roads, and it was just easier to stay in and watch crappy TV without really paying attention to it before retiring to bed.

Two separate beds mind you. Kanda had opted to let Ivy use his room while he commandeered one of his absent foster brother’s.

“It looks like things cleared up out there,” Kanda reported, coming back into the kitchen from the living room, where he had been doing recon at the window. “We should be able to get you to your bullshit with no problems, though we should leave soon if you wanna stop by your place first.”

“Right.” Ivy finished up rinsing off her dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. Her backpack was still packed up from the night before, and Kanda held it in one hand, Ivy’s winter jacket in the other. She accepted and donned them in the logical order, smiling at her boyfriend. “Sorry for the trouble. I know you don’t want to be involved in any of this.”

Kanda shrugged, double checking his pockets for his keys. “It could be worse,” he said, which was kind of an understatement at this point. Ivy didn’t want to think of the ways this scenario could be worse, but part of her brain went there anyways. Kanda put his hand on hers, leading Ivy to the doorway. “At this point, I just want this whole mess over with. So if taking you to the mall to meet up with the dumbass Rabbit to get this whole dumbass thing over with, then fine.”

Ivy smiled a bit, squeezing Kanda’s fingers and glad that she had at least remembered to bring gloves. “Thank you, Yu-kun,” she said, smiling a bit as they settled into the car. Kanda instantly cranked up the heat and the radio, and Ivy stayed in a bundle, hoping to preserve her body heat until the car could help. She and Kanda weren’t the most talkative of people on a normal basis, so sitting in silence wasn’t really something uncomfortable. Compared to the upcoming day with Lavi, it was nice.

Too bad her phone decided to ring.

Kanda raised an eyebrow, glancing to Ivy. She grimaced, her caller ID saying all. Only Lavi could break up this moment, and considering that they had plans together, it wasn’t like she could just ignore it, no matter how much she wanted to.

_“Gooooood morning, Ivy-chan!”_ Seriously, Lavi could put game show announcers to shame. _“I just wanted to let you know that I’m on my way to pick you up so you can get ready! I even bought donuts, so don’t worry about breakfast. There’s work to be one, and we have enough sugar for days here!”_

Ivy resisted the urge to laugh nervously. Why was it so easy for Lavi to frazzle her? He wasn’t doing anything different than a normal day. “No, it’s fine, you don’t need to pick me up.” Oh, she _so_ didn’t want to have this conversation but it was happening anyway. Saints preserve us.

_“But, Ivy-chan, you don’t have a car!”_ Yeah, just go ahead and remind her. That wasn’t a low blow or anything. _“Or a license, even.”_ Fucking hell, that was just unfair. It wasn’t her fault Cloud Nine wasn’t ever around to teach her! _“Don’t waste your money on the bus, Ivy-chan, it’ll be better if we go together.”_

“I _said_ I got this, Lavi.” Ivy could hear the irritation in her voice, and Kanda could, too. If only Allen didn’t have a stake in this, then she could just abandon the whole thing, but Ivy wasn’t ready to find out what an angry Brit was like. Or face those puppy dog eyes again for that matter. “You don’t worry about me, I will _see you there_ , you understand?”

Ivy could only hope that Lavi would take the hint. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. _“Hm, well, since Ivy-chan has no other reasonable way to get there, Cloud Nine’s been out of town since forever ago, and Ivy-chan hates public transportation with a passion…”_ Lavi mumbled before gasping. _“Ah, no, wait! Are you with Yu-pon? Did you two stay together?!”_

Why was it that Lavi only seemed to show his sharpness at the _worst_ possible times?

Kanda slowed the car as he approached a stoplight and held out his hand. “Give it.” It probably wasn’t the best idea, but Ivy complied. Kanda kept his eyes on the road but still growled into the phone. “Listen up, Rabbit, I can hear you from across the car. You’re being distracting. And if you even dare cause trouble for Ivy today, I swear—“

Ivy retried the phone as the light turned green. Kanda grumbled to himself, but focused on driving, leaving his girlfriend to her business. Ugh, hopefully the Beansprout would man up and get this whole mess over with soon. “Lavi,” Ivy said, adding a dose of sweetness to her voice as not to sound too irritated, “If you want to be able to walk around that mall, let alone be stealthy about it, you’ll shut your mouth. I’ll see you when I get there.”

And she hung up, switching her phone silent. She could deal with that particular headache later. Sometimes, it was a wonder having a phone was even worth it. Well, except for the fact that she could contact Kanda that way.

“I think I need some ibuprofen…”

“Glove box.”

* * *

Allen wouldn’t say he felt on the verge of having a panic attack, but he was pretty stressed. This was a completely different scenario than asking Lenalee out or even going out with Ari. When it came to the redheaded girl, it was obvious that Lavi was providing a type of support. However, with Lenalee, Allen had hardly been able to sleep, worrying that Komui was going to come after him.

Well, Lenalee had his car now, so that seriously limited Komui’s mobility. That didn’t mean that Allen was in the clear. He didn’t underestimate the science teacher; Komui would walk to the mall if it meant protecting his sister. He had once ran across the campus courtyard in a thunderstorm because it would get him to Lenalee faster than going through the buildings.

_What a pain…_

Still, he was on a date and they were at the mall, which at least gave them the advantage of open space. Allen did his best to smile, finding that it came a lot easier than he expected.

“So where do you wanna start?” Lenalee asked. She had done her hair up special, curls adorning her usual pigtails. And just because it was cold outside that didn’t mean she had to sacrifice her wardrobe. Underneath her fluffy jacket (which Allen was kind enough to carry) was what Lenalee considered to be one of the top ten cutest outfits in her wardrobe, and she only brought it out in special occasions.

_Just try and top that, Ari!_

“Um, I’m not so sure,” Allen admitted. He really hadn’t thought about this much—all of Ari’s planning had kind of spoiled him. “There’s the Valentine’s dance coming up soon—maybe we could shop around for that?”

There were at least two things to get excited for in that sentence. One, that it was some hope that maybe Allen was interested in going to the dance with her—though Lenalee tried to keep herself from getting too worked up, she couldn’t help it. The second, involving far less leaps of logical faith, was that involved shopping, and in any event, Lenalee could pick out a dress that Allen thought she looked good in, scoring bonus points either way. Plus, shopping was fun, no matter the situation!

“Come on, I know the perfect place,” Lenalee said, grabbing Allen’s wrist and dragging him down the main stretch of the mall. Lenalee knew this place by the back of her hand, and would be able to find an effective discount as soon as possible, without sacrificing her look. Of course, no price was too high if it meant having Allen compliment her.

Allen followed along, smiling a bit. He had somehow taken a step in the right direction, and hopefully this would be easier to keep up. While Lenalee was perfectly capable of doing her own thing, she was still much more conscious of others than Ari. Hopefully this whole endeavor wouldn’t be too exhausting.

Enjoying the feel of Allen’s wrist between her fingers, Lenalee had a break in her thoughts. Only a small one, but enough to make her pause, though her boots continued to click across the mall’s floor.

_Hey, did you know? Allen-san’s lips are soft. Like,_ seriously _._

No doubt about it; that had been an open barb to get under Lenalee’s skin, and it had worked. And while she had been in denial, the Chinese girl couldn’t help but worry that what Ari had said was the truth. This date wasn’t out of pity, right? Sure, Lavi was involved, and he had said that everything was Allen’s idea. Lenalee hadn’t asked many questions, but she really wanted to know.

She glanced back to Allen, following her in earnest, a smile on his face. Really, he was angelic, ten out of ten. Lenalee couldn’t ruin that peace, not yet. Maybe later, when it wouldn’t make the rest of the day awkward. She faced forward, increasing her pace as she dragged Allen across the threshold of the first store on her circuit.

They were just getting started, after all.

* * *

Road Kamelot, accompanied by one Tyki Mikk, sat in the center food court of the mall, looking an interesting mix of excited and bored. Allen Walker had passed by only a few minutes ago, wrangled along by a girl with pigtails that Road recognized from several pictures. They were probably on a date of some sort, given by the girl’s outfit, and it occurred to Road that this was a different girl than one she had glanced in the peripheral last weekend at Millennial.

“Maybe I should go and talk to him,” Road muttered, sipping at her slushie despite the outside weather. The mall was well heated in addition to the piles of pink protruding from most stores, signaling the upcoming holiday. “That girl isn’t even that cute anyways, even if she can pick her clothes well. She’d be much prettier as a doll.”

“Now, now, jealousy won’t gain you any points with that boy, I’m afraid.” Road shot a glare in her cousin’s direction, and Tyki shrugged it off. The Portuguese teen was more than a bit bored himself, but at least he could always pick on Road to pass the time. “I’m just giving you advice. He’s earnest from what I can tell, and he won’t appreciate you scheming against his friends, in a serious relationship or otherwise.”

“Oh, cause you’re such an expert on people,” Road snapped. Tyki didn’t condone or refute the comment. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get to know someone a bit better. And it’s easy to make it a coincidence. I can just say I recognize him and go from there. Contact established, no big deal. I’m playing _nice_ today.”

_Nice_ was a relative word for such a little hellion, but Tyki wasn’t one to talk. Plus, he liked his clothes and didn’t particularly like the idea of them getting ruined by slushie, especially when he was supposed to be serving as Road’s ride. As satisfying as it would be to just leave the girl here, she and Sheryl would never let him live it down.

He _liked_ the bit of sanity he had left.

“Yes, you do recognize him: from all those photos and surveillance you had gathered on him.” Tyki ran an agitated hand through his hair; this was not what he had signed up for. There had been some hope that he would run into a certain redhead, but a date was a completely different question entirely. Going back to the dorms was preferable at this point, or at least hanging out with people he actually liked. “I take it that those sources are the reason you knew he’d be here today?”

“Mmhmm.” Road giggled a bit, stirring her drink with its straw, hoping to mix the ice crystals with the syrup before it melted away. Tyki wasn’t all that surprised by that answer, either. “It’s amazing what a bit of money can do, you know?”

Oh, did he know. But that wasn’t the main concern here, now was it. “You never did tell me what you were aiming for,” Tyki mused, making his point obvious without asking the question outright. Road scrunched up her nose, looking ready to unleash a string of profanities in his direction. Tyki raised his hands. “Easy there, I _am_ helping you out here. You can’t tell me I don’t deserve to know.”

Road frowned for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh. There was no point in keeping secrets if Tyki was just going to be difficult about it. “You make it sound so difficult,” she said, toying with her straw between her fingers. “It’s simple really:

“I want him.”


	29. 29. Myriad Madness: Oversight

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

29\. Myriad Madness: Oversight

* * *

At least this time Lavi had the sense to wear a hat, so his hair was much less noticeable in the mall. He had even rotated out his jacket and scarf for less eye-catching ones, making him blend easy into the background crowd of the mall. Ivy tended to wear darks and her hair was a less obnoxious tone, so she didn’t have to worry about standing out as much, either. As such, tucking away behind racks of clothes and Allen and Lenalee shuffled through stores was pretty easy, and even had much less chance for trouble then the Millennial plan had.

Not a single wine cabinet in sight, either.

“Oooh, that’s a nice dress,” Lavi complimented. Ivy had been browsing through the racks to seem like a normal shopper, and had really been paying minimal attention to what was going on with the couple she was supposed to be following. Allen had managed just fine without any help last time, and Ivy was starting to wonder why they were even taking this approach to things anymore.

Right, because Lavi wouldn’t take no for an answer, no matter what he had promised. Ivy released a sigh, turning to see what exactly her unfortunate partner was talking about.

Admittedly, it was a pretty dress, but Ivy’s knowledge of fashion was a bit limited to understand much more than that. It almost looked like something that you would find in an older Disney movie, with the poofy skirt and long sleeves. Lenalee expertly showed off the dress at all angles, making the skirt shift with each movement. Ivy couldn’t see Allen’s expression from here, but it didn’t matter much. Ivy let out a disinterested hum and went back to her browsing.

“She could pick a better color, though,” Lavi assessed, sounding far more serious than he needed to be. He and Lenalee tended to go shopping together a lot, so he was used to giving his friend shopping advice. As expected, Lenalee headed back into the dressing room, another dress draped over her shoulder. It took a lot of Lavi’s energy not to pick something out and take it to her, but he remembered what he was there for. “What about you, Ivy-chan? You wanna go dress shopping? The dance is coming up.”

“Get bent and die,” Ivy retorted instantly. She didn’t do dresses, especially ones like that monster Lenalee had been wearing. As if walking around and dancing weren’t a hassle enough, skirts didn’t need to get in the way. She hadn’t even been planning on going to the dance in the first place, but she probably would have to with all of this nonsense going on. Ugh, Kanda wasn’t going to be happy with that, but what else could she do?

Completely unfazed by the insult—it was actually kind of cute when Ivy and Kanda acted alike in some weird “I-have-no-sense-of-self-preservation” way—Lavi started flipping through the rack of clothes next to Ivy. “Come on, you don’t wanna try and impress Yu-pon?” he tried, only putting as much teasing into his voice that wouldn’t carry across the room. “You looked good last week, Ivy-chan, I won’t deny that. But something out of the ordinary can do wonders, you know? Bet you could knock him out of the park.”

Ivy rolled her eyes, trying to take it lightly, but still ended up frowning. For the sake of appearances, she pulled a hanger out to look at, only to put it right back. How did some of this stuff even count as clothes with that amount of fabric? “I don’t want out of the ordinary. I want to help Allen-san out and go back to how things normally are.” Admittedly, they hadn’t had any sense of “normal” since the beginning of the school year, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hope.

_At this point, I’m just kind of sick of this nonsense…_

“Aw, come on, Ivy-chan, you can’t tell me you didn’t have fun with Yu-pon last night.”

Ivy froze, having to resist the urge to bash Lavi’s head into the clothes rack repeatedly. Not only would that drag unnecessary attention, it would just get blood everywhere, and paying for ruined clothes just wasn’t something Ivy was in the mood for. She looked back to Lenalee, who was now sporting off a shorter dress with a skirt that was beyond questionable. Well, at least Lenalee looked cute in stuff like that; Ivy wouldn’t be able to pull something like that off in a million years.

“Ivy-chan, you’re not answering me. Oh, did Yu-pon—”

Ivy’s first reaction was to panic, but she managed to hold that back, replacing it with a glare instead. Lavi took a step back, which made Ivy feel the tiniest bit better. “We did homework and slept in separate rooms,” she said. “We couldn’t leave because of the snow.” How could she even keep her voice calm in that moment? She didn’t really understand that herself.

“Whoa, you’re serious?” Lavi’s visible eye widened, and Ivy just realized she had made a fatal blunder. “I was just kidding, Ivy-chan, I didn’t actually think… I mean, yeah, you were with Yu-pon and I just figured he offered to give you a ride; I saw you guys leave together.” What was that pounding in her ears? Was it a headache or her heartbeat? Ivy couldn’t bring herself to care for long enough. “I can’t believe it—everyone’s growing up so fast, right? Congratulations, Ivy-cha—”

There was a boiling point, and Lavi had just caused it to be reached. Ivy stomped on Lavi’s foot, cutting off his words and covered his mouth to muffle any cries to distress. Lavi was unceremoniously thrown to the ground, emitting a pained groan and electing a look of concern from a passing sales attendant.

“Um, sir, ma’am, is everything, alright?”

“We’re fine,” Ivy answered, dusting off her hands. The attendant didn’t have room to argue, and so just went back to stocking up the wall display. If the boy didn’t move in a few minutes, she would call someone, but there were certain types of customers you didn’t mess with if you could help it. Ivy let out a huff, resting her hand on her hip. “Now are you gonna focus on what we came here for, or are you gonna keep acting stupid?”

“I can focus, ma’am.” Of course, that didn’t mean he had to let this whole ordeal go, either.

“Good.” Ivy turned back around just as Allen and Lenalee exited the store, both of their arms surprisingly void of any bags. Maybe Lenalee liked to shop around then? In any event, it meant this afternoon could take quite some time.

As if this whole situation wasn’t frustrating enough.

* * *

Even after a few hours of looking around, Lenalee had yet to find the right dress, despite Allen’s assurances that she looked great in anything she wore. And it was true, but it seemed like she was trying extra hard at this rate, so Allen just let her go at it and tried his best not to give generic feedback.

“Sorry to drag you around like this,” Lenalee said around lunchtime as they headed to the food court. Allen hadn’t even been doing anything exhausting, but he already felt hungry. Well, that was normal—his internal clock was unwilling to compromise when it came to food, and Allen had long since learned to just work with it.

“It’s not really a problem,” Allen assured, trying to figure out what all he should eat. Food courts were a great invention—they had all sorts of food types in one place and it wasn’t considered rude if you ordered from more than one. Truly, an excellent decision on someone’s part. He could already feel his mouth watering and they moved closer to the smells. “This is actually kind of fun. I just hope you find a dress you like soon.”

“Well, it’s not that I haven’t found one I like…” Lenalee mused, resting a finger on her lips. “It’s more like I gotta find all the right pieces. A great dress only does so much. You gotta have the accessories, shoes, and hairstyle to match.” With each item Lenalee sounded off on her hand, Allen became more impressed. That sure seemed like a whole lot of items to keep track of, especially for just one night.

_Well, you might be making that night very special for someone, so don’t go dismissing it yet._

Allen shook those thoughts out of his head by looking around the food court. He knew all the stores and their menus by heart at this point, it was only a matter of what all he was going to get in what order. Lenalee settled into the line for the small burger place, and they met up after Allen had heaved a heaping tray to their poor table. At least it was wide enough that Allen didn’t have to be hidden behind his mountain of food.

“So is there anything you wanna check out?” Lenalee asked, adding some mustard packets to her sandwich. They just never seemed to put enough of the stuff on burgers these days. “I mean, I’d still like to look for a dress, but we shouldn’t just go and get stuff for me.”

Allen didn’t particularly mind, but Lenalee did have a point. “Maybe we could go and pick something up for Tim?” He couldn’t show that bird his appreciation enough, and it had been a while since Allen had gotten Timcanpy treats or a new toy. Even though Cross was the master of running up debt, he was still able (required) to give Allen a semblance of a monthly allowance, which Allen guessed he was grateful for. Might as well spend it on something fun that wasn’t for food.

Lenalee would have clapped her hands together if that wouldn’t have just made a mess out of her lunch. “That sounds like fun,” she agreed. “We can go and play with the animals, too. Man, I wouldn’t mind having a pet, but Nii-san just leaves all of his things lying around. I wouldn’t feel safe with that mess in the house.” And she had worked so hard to clean things up, too. Well, the place did feel a bit sterile without Komui’s messes everywhere.

“Yeah, I feel ya.” Sometimes, Allen had to worry about Tim, but the flycatcher was a smart bird. And Cross wasn’t home most of the time anyways, so it didn’t matter. “I’m just glad I have a cage for Tim to stay in. Cross just causes trouble when he’s around, and I’m glad that I can keep Tim safe.”

There was a certain distaste to Allen’s words, one that didn’t get there often, but it wasn’t the first time that Lenalee had heard it. She frowned a bit, trying to figure out what to best say that could calm down her friend. Even so, concern and curiosity won out in the end. “Have you heard from him lately?” she asked. “I know he didn’t come home for holidays, but it’s been a while since anything came up, right?”

“Good riddance,” Allen grumbled. Sure, he was grateful to Cross for taking him in, but that was only a bare minimum effort. That one act couldn’t chance the fact that the man was nothing more than a giant arsehole half the time. “I haven’t heard since he bailed on me at the beginning of the school year. Of course, knowing him. He’ll just show up whenever it’s most convenient for him and least convenient for everyone else.” Allen sighed, inhaling his side of rice from the Chinese restaurant in the breath that followed. “Sorry, I don’t wanna whine about Cross all day, it won’t change anything.”

Lenalee shook her head. “It’s okay, I’m the one that asked,” she said, toying more with her french-fry than anything else. “Sorry for bringing it up, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

Allen smiled again, and Lenalee knew that things would be alright. “I’m doing great, actually,” he said. It wasn’t completely true, since he still had a whole lot of stress in the background over this whole ordeal, but that was fine. A love triangle? A cakewalk when compared to having to traveled with Cross. Allen was just glad the man had caved and let Allen stay in the house instead of being dragged around to the corners of the earth. He started in on his next entrée, and it was gone in minutes. “So, you wanna hit the pet store first, or keep looking around for your dress?”

“The pet store sounds good. I think I need to let my ideas simmer for a bit.”

After all, one could never have epiphanies without doing something else first.

* * *

Ari sat in the back corner of the pet store, a rabbit in her lap. She had hoped that petting it would make her feel better, but so far no such luck. She still felt more than a bit irritated, but it wasn’t like she could just take that out on anything with a cute, fluffy animal in her lap. Johnny sat across from her, watching in worry. Sure, Ari seemed to be doing pretty alright, but that didn’t mean things were going as well as he hoped.

Allen and Lenalee’s date seemed to be going off without a hitch. Ari had figured out the details while spying on her brother, which was easy enough, really. Of course, she had recruited Johnny to come along for the ride, mainly because he had offered to help out, and also because Ari wasn’t a big fun of bus rides solo.

The date was completely different from her own, which was probably why she shouldn’t be comparing it. Incompatible samples could have skewed results, and that was what Ari was leaning on at the moment. At Millennial, Allen had seemed happy enough, but there was still a nervousness that Ari had picked up on. Here, he seemed just as casual at school, more comfortable.

_It’s just the location, right? It’s not because he’s with Lenalee, right?_

“Johnny, do you think I’m the problem?”

Johnny snapped to attention at the words, not quite sure what he should be saying. Did Ari want empathy? Was their usual banter okay? Ari was usually a pretty animated person, but she was completely still, her hands resting on top of the small rabbit without even trying to pet it anymore. The small animal squirmed a bit, but didn’t run away—the pet store had obviously kept it peaceful.

“Come on,” Johnny finally said, keeping his voice gentle, “where’s this coming from? Just last night you were telling me how easy it would be to beat Lenalee-san out. Did you change your mind?”

“No…” Ari sighed, picking up the rabbit to coddle it to her chest. At this rate, Crab Cakes would have a new friend, even if they wouldn’t be staying in the same tank. “I still wanna be with Allen-san. And I still think I’m gonna knock her store bought dress out of the park with your work behind me.” The rabbit nuzzled against Ari’s fingertips, and she went back to petting it, small strokes between its ears. “But Allen-san just seems so happy. I don’t know…”

“Ari Noelle Bookman.” Ari blinked at the sound of her full name, and Johnny made sure to smile when she looked to him. “You can’t go and make that decision. Only Allen can. And if you give up, you’re not gonna let him make a fair decision.” Johnny stood up, offering his hand. Ari made sure the rabbit was secure against her chest before accepting the help. “Now, why don’t we forget about this and go by you some books. You look like you could use a nice reading afternoon and some hot cocoa.”

“Which I’ll be making,” Ari teased. She giggled a bit, and Johnny decided it was best not to retort. It wasn’t his fault that was his first time using a Bunsen burner! And it wasn’t like anything had exploded, either… “But you’re right. The bookstore would make me feel better… Oh, and we can talk about my dress more. Maybe if we go to the fabric store, we’ll get some ideas…”

Johnny patted his messenger bag, sketchbook inside. “I have a couple of drafts, but it’s nothing concrete. I was thinking lace…” And lots of it, really

Ari nodded. “It’s like you read my mind.” She started to walk to the store’s exit, Johnny on her heels.

“You can’t take the rabbit with you.”

“Aw, how do you do that?” Ari tried to pout, but her smile was coming back quicker. After dropping off the rabbit with a staff member and brushing its fur of Ari’s her top, the teens went to exit the store. Ari was already running through a mental catalogue of books that she had considered buying, and Johnny was trying to flip through his designs and walk at the same time.

It was no wonder they collided into someone.

No one fell over, but Johnny did stumble back, stammering out apologies. Ari blinked before taking a few steps back of her own, at least to establish personal space. The third party was a tall male with tan skin and messy dark hair, though he was wearing glasses that made it hard to see his eyes. Maybe it was just instinct, but Ari got a certain vibe off the guy that wasn’t entirely pleasant, though it was hard to find.

“Well,” Tyki Mikk said, running a hand through his hair and assessing the redhead in front of him, “it looks like today is my lucky day.”


	30. 30. Myriad Madness: Confrontation

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

30\. Myriad Madness: Confrontation

* * *

“Um, I’m sorry?”

Tyki took a moment to reassess the situation. After further consideration, the person in front of him was definitely not Lavi, though she bore a striking resemblance. She was shorter, too, which only made Tyki question his assumption even more. Maybe all that time hanging around Road and her obsessive tendencies had made him less than stable today. It was probably a good thing he had left her to her stalking tendencies in favor of getting some time to himself. 

Well, maybe not so good for Allen Walker and the girl with him, but that wasn’t Tyki’s concern, now was it? Not until something went wrong, and even then, the Director could take care of any trouble easily.

“Um, Ari?” The boy with poofy hair and glasses spoke up, sounding nervous. Even through the boy’s lenses, Tyki could tell he was looking back and forth, trying to get a handle on the situation. Well, it had certainly been a while since Tyki had made someone this nervous.

“I don’t know him,” the girl said flatly. Her curiosity was gone from earlier, now replaced with a sort of caution. Tyki wasn’t quite sure how to handle that; sure, she was presumably a Black Order student, but it wasn’t like he was wearing anything to do with his school today. Hell, he had even taken on his “casual” look to avoid suspicion, unlike Road who was decked out in frills and candy. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

Tyki put on his best smile, trying to keep it friendly. The twins spent most of their time teasing him about how “sinister” he could look at times, which frankly wasn’t the goal, in this situation or ever. “Sorry, I made an assumption,” he said. His words came out accented. Probably some variation of Spanish, though Ari couldn’t be certain with so few words. It couldn’t stand up against Allen’s own, though. The Brit’s accent was perfection. “I didn’t think there were that many people with that shade of hair around here.”

While Tyki had seen a number of strange things in his life, that shade of red was completely out of the usual question. Still, neither Lavi nor this girl had any of the signs of dye damage, so it was probably natural. Even Road’s dark curls, which bordered on pure indigo, weren’t as eye catching. Then again, for them to have the same hair color…

“You know my brother then,” Ari concluded. _Oh ho?_ That was definitely interesting if it were true; Lavi hadn’t struck Tyki as the older brother type. Maybe he was the less mature of the pair. “Sorry, but if you’re looking for him, he’s busy being a complete moron, so I suggest you wait.” She tilted her head, trying to see if this guy was familiar at all.

“You know Lavi-san?” Johnny said, and Tyki gave him a bit more attention. Johnny tried not to balk under the sudden gaze, but things were getting a bit tricky at this point. Johnny was generally more social, but something about Ari’s attitude gave him a bad feeling. Still, he tried to play it casually as possible. “Man, you guys seem to know someone everywhere, huh?”

“I don’t recognize you.” Ari easily destroyed any facsimile of casual conversation, bringing Johnny’s awkward laugh to a halt. Tyki’s eyebrows raised without his permission—this girl was sharp. “You don’t go to school with us.” Memorizing names and faces was nothing when you had been absorbing information from before you could hardly walk. “Where are you from, exactly?”

“I’m afraid I’m just visiting the area,” Tyki said, pulling off a lie with zero qualms. It wasn’t completely false, anyways; he hardly came to this mall, and it was only at Road’s ridiculous request. How much longer did she plan to keep this up? He had better ways to spend the weekend. “I only met your brother in passing, sorry. I won’t be here much longer, so I was hoping that maybe I could see him again.”

Ari’s hand twitched, but she hid it well. He had avoided the question. That only settled it: this guy was suspicious. Cataloguing his face under her “troublemakers” category, Ari made sure to remember as much about him as she could. “Yeah, too bad…”

“Hey, Ari,” Johnny intervened. If this situation got any worse he was going to be wishing to be on the receiving end of one of Komui’s experiments, and that was a fate worse than death. Many science club members could attest to that. “Weren’t we gotta get going? We don’t wanna get stuck out here if the snow gets bad.”

“You’re right.” Ari turned away from the stranger, still watching him out of the corner of her eye. If she hadn’t needed a book before (and when didn’t she?), she certainly needed one now. “Hope you get to see Nii-san some other time.” Well, at that passive aggression with Lenalee had to be useful somewhere else.

And Tyki watched them go, certain that there was a way to make this more than interesting.

* * *

After a couple of hours in the mall, the girl had finally been able to pick out a dress and was heading to the counter with it. Road only noticed because Allen was with her, and he had that blissful smile on his face. In all reality, Road couldn’t care less about what they were doing together, but she wouldn’t mind tearing up something right about now. It had been a while since she had been able to mess with someone outside the school, and this would feel all the more satisfying.

The girl with the curls in her hair seemed to cheer something excitedly, and even gratefully hugged Allen’s arm. Road twitched, nearly biting her sucker in half. _Oh, gag me._ There was only so much cute that Road could stand to deal with, and even this was a bit too much. Besides, seeing someone else get that close to him…

 _I can wait until they leave the store. I’m sure she doesn’t need that dress_ that _badly._

Road sat by on the bench outside the door. Allen and his date eventually exited, the girl saying she could wait to shop for the rest later, that she had taken up enough of Allen’s time already. That was exactly right by Road’s standards, but that also meant Allen would be leaving soon. Oh well, Road could handle not talking to him today if she could pull off a bit of sabotage in its place.

Man, Tyki was going to regret leaving her alone today. He hadn’t even noticed she had brought scissors along with her.

The crowds had thinned out as the day wore on, but there were still plenty of people out and about. It would be easy to blend in with everyone else, plus Road’s height did have its advantages at sometimes. No one would even notice her. Following closely behind Allen and his tagalong, Road reached for her scissors, trying to find the best place to cut inside the bag without catching Allen’s notice.

“I knew you were trouble.”

A hand came down on Road’s shoulder, and she spun around to retaliate, expecting Tyki. She struck out with the scissors, but the girl she found instead easily dodged. This one was different than Allen’s date, with brown hair and a plain looking face. Her expression was irritable, to say the least, and Road glowered before checking to see where Allen had gone.

“And where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Ivy asked. Okay, the scissors were a bit more than she bargained for, but she had handled worse. Whoever this wannabe goth chick was, she was dangerous for being such a squirt. Looks like her instincts had been right. “Hey, spill. You’ve been following them all day.” Ivy had thought it was coincidence at first, but the more and more she had seen the girl, the more suspicious she got.

“Yeah, well so have you,” Road retorted, not losing a beat. She crossed her arms, bouncing the lollipop between her fingers, scissors still in her other hand. At this rate, Allen was going to be out of sight, and then Road wouldn’t be getting anything she wanted. This wouldn’t bode well for Lero when it came down to it.

Ivy scoffed. “Sure, but you look suspicious as fuck.” True enough that Ivy didn’t exactly pay attention to a lot of people, but she’d never seen someone like this before. What the hell was her deal? “Those two are my friends, and like hell I’m gonna let you just get behind them with some scissors and do whatever you want.”

“What, these?” Road twirled the offending object around one of her fingers for a bit, stopping the motion with a _snip_ of the metal. Comparatively, she hadn’t been planning to do anything bad, but that didn’t mean she had to play innocent. She probably wouldn’t be believed anyway. “Oh, I bet you know what these can do to people, right? You look like the type.”

It was a ruse and it worked magnificently. Ivy stiffened instantly, and Road smirked as the girl’s expression darkened. Someone wasn’t a happy camper, were they?

“Ivy-chan, where’d you run off to!” Suddenly, a newcomer descended, decked out in a hat and scarf. Tufts of red hair still managed to sneak out, and there was an eyepatch over his eye, and Road understood exactly what she needed to. “Sheesh, Allen and Lenalee are heading out, so we should, t—whoa, who’s the loli with the scissors? Halloween was months ago, you dig? Unless it’s cosplay, then nice job.”

“Lavi, can you please _not_ for five minutes?” Ivy could at least recover long enough to provide that retort.

This time Road was the one to stiffen, albeit she recovered faster. “I know you,” she said, addressing the redhead. “You were at Millennial last week. And you ruined my record at hide and seek.” Yes, Road was more than a bit bitter about that, and looking through the security footage hadn’t yielded any results of where the redhead had gone. What a pain. “I don’t know who you are, but I’ll play with you _later_.” In spades.

“You aren’t gonna do shit,” Ivy snapped. Ugh, she was tired of getting this worked up lately. She kind of wished Kanda were here, but he didn’t need to get frustrated, either. Ivy took a step forward, easily towering over the smaller girl. Man, this was kind of empowering considering she just barely had any height on Lenalee or Allen. “You’re gonna go back to whatever pastel hole you crawled out of and leave my friends alone.”

Road grinned. Tyki wouldn’t be happy with her “solution,” but that was his fault for running off anyways. Served him right. “Oh, yeah, what’re you gonna do about it?”

Ivy’s eyes twitched, but that was the only giveaway. Her hand flashed inside her jacket, and she quickly pulled out what appeared to be a thin screwdriver. It didn’t look like much, but Road knew she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that. This girl was fast, too, only making the situation more troublesome. Lavi was left to sidelines, not quite sure where all this had come from.

_Maybe winter’s just starting to get to everyone. Cabin fever or something._

“Ooh, scary,” Road taunted, but Ivy’s expression didn’t waver. She looked dead serious at this point, and admittedly Road didn’t have enough pieces to make this the ideal situation. Of course, that didn’t mean she had to admit that. “But ultimately boring. I don’t wanna play with someone who can’t even keep up a poker face.” Road shrugged, returning her scissors to her pocket and taking a step back. “I think I’m gonna go home. Allen’s probably gone anyway…”

Ivy’s immediate reaction was to think of it as a ruse. That would be the sane decision. But Road spun on her heel, sending her skirt airborne for a moment, and stalked off, lollipop secure behind her teeth. She even turned in the opposite direction that Allen and Lenalee had gone, just to make a point of it. There were more important things to, like find Tyki and ask a favor of the Director…

Ivy waited for a good moment before returning the screwdriver to the rest of her tools. It could have been a coincidence, but she didn’t think so. Her instincts had tipped her off about the girl, and now she had an even worse feeling building up in her stomach and brain.

“Damn, Ivy-chan, that was scarier than normal.”

“Oh shut it,” Ivy snapped, before she realized now wasn’t the time. She took a deep breath, zipping up her jacket. “Sorry. Let’s just go home, okay?”

Her headache had been gone, but now it was back in full force.

* * *

The car ride home was just as peaceful as the one to the mall. Lenalee was a pretty decent driver, even with the snow, and pop music from the radio filled in any silence. All in all, today had gone exceptionally well, and Allen was starting to feel a whole less nervous about this endeavor. Then again, hindsight was always 20/20, though they weren’t completely out of the woods yet.

After pretty much an entire afternoon with Allen all to herself, Lenalee was sure of it; Allen wasn’t trying to mess with anyone. She didn’t understand everything, but she did know that was the truth. She couldn’t help but wonder though: wouldn’t this whole situation be stressful? To have to keep what you were doing a secret?

And even beyond that, part of Lenalee still couldn’t help but worry. So the only thing she could do about it was just go ahead and ask.

“Hey, Allen,” she said, making sure to check on him out of the corner of her eye. Allen looked up from resting his head on his hand, perfectly at attention. Lenalee had to smile a bit at that. “Just curious but…when were you and Lavi gonna tell me about your plan?”

“Plan?” Allen echoed. He wasn’t trying to play dumb; his voice easily jumped a pitch, and there was no way he could go and deny that. Of course, there wasn’t much other point in lying, now was there? “Um, Lenalee, you wouldn’t happen to mean…TRIangular would you?’

Lenalee let out a small laugh, quickly stifling the sound. “Is that what he’s calling it?” she asked. Allen could only nod dumbly. “Well, I guess it’s less of a mouthful than the SSGTIK was. Only Lavi could come up with stuff like that.”

“Yeah…” Here, Allen was on the verge of his fifth potential heart attack for the week, and Lenalee was laughing like she didn’t find this weird. “Um, how much do you know?” Ignorance was bliss after all. Maybe she was just being polite.

“Hm, I understand the situation, more or less.” Flashing a smile in Allen’s direction, Lenalee turned down the street. Most of the snow had been plowed away by this point, but the world was still a murky off gray, barely lit up by the snow. “Lavi decided it would be nice to get you through this whole thing with me, you, and Ari, and one date with her and one date with me later, here we are.”

Seriously, had she known the whole time? Had Allen said something to give it away? He fidgeted a bit in his seat, adjusting the safety belt. “Sorry about all this,” he genuinely apologized. Allen had never meant for things to get this far. “I just wanted…I didn’t realize either of you really felt that way and I wanted to try and maybe figure something out.”

Lenalee tapped her fingers in time with the song on the radio. That was just like Allen, trying this for their sakes. Though Lenalee would have preferred a less convoluted series of events, this would have to do. Considering her group of friends, this was the best she was probably ever going to get.

“It’s okay,” she said, because in some messed up way, it was. It really was. “I know you’re not trying to hurt either of us with this. You’re just trying to do what you think is best.” Part of Lenalee felt compelled to reach for Allen’s hand, but she tightened them on the wheel instead.

The British boy let out a weak sounding chuckle, almost like a wheeze. “Like I could hurt you. Komui would hurt me first.” Fatally, perhaps. There was a strong chance hurting Lenalee’s feelings was the last thing some people would ever live to do.

“And don’t forget Lavi!” Because Komui wasn’t the only big brother hurting around in these parts. Sure, Lavi wouldn’t be as… _extreme_ as Komui, but Lenalee knew he wouldn’t let anything awful happen to Ari, either.

“Yeah, thanks. Just what I needed.” Despite the dose of sarcasm, Allen found that he wasn’t as worried as he could (or arguable should) be. Lenalee flashed a thumbs up. “Still, you’re surprisingly calm about this. Are you sure it’s okay?”

Lenalee pursed her lips. There were still a lot of things bothering her, if she was to be completely honest. But in the end, there wasn’t much she could do about it, not without skewing things in her absolute favor. “Is it the love story I imagined for myself?” Lenalee said, staring ahead at the road. “No. But does it involve me going on a date with possibly the cutest guy I’ve ever met in my life and standing a chance with him? Yes. And, really, at this point a chance is all I need.” She flashed a grin, chancing proper eye contact. “Just you wait, Allen, I’ll blow you away.”

And Allen didn’t doubt that for a second. When it came to Lenalee and Ari, there wasn’t any way he could imagine getting out of this without being blown away. Several times, if necessary.


	31. 31. Drunks, Dresses, and Demons

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

31\. Drunks, Dresses, and Demons

* * *

Saturday could have easily been a peaceful morning if Allen hadn’t been woken up by Timcanpy’s chirping. Allen groaned and rolled around in bed. Was some rest so much to ask for? Now that he had gone on one date a piece with both Lenalee and Ari, Lavi had insisted on having a TRIangular meeting Sunday. Allen had at least been hoping to have the day off to himself to think about things.

Tim let out a few more high pitched chirps, and Allen reluctantly sat up. “Yeah, yeah, I hear you…” he mumbled, tottering over the Timcanpy’s perch. Since the bird was so well trained, Allen never bothered with a cage. Both the water and food bowls were relatively full, meaning that Tim wasn’t actually missing anything. “Come on, that’s not even funny, Tim…”

Timcanpy chirped again, then lifted his wings to flutter to the door. He pecked it once, then stared at his owner expectantly.

“You want out?” Well, Allen didn’t plan on complaining. Timcanpy had always done as he pleased. The Brit headed for the door, breakfast on the mind. While the school’s food wasn’t half bad, there was nothing like a breakfast at home. He always thought better on a full stomach anyways.

All happy thoughts of breakfast were dashed as Allen headed down the stairs, the sharp scent of alcohol assaulting his nose. Timcanpy landed on his shoulder, almost giving him a look that screamed _I told you so_ , if that was possible for a bird. Tim didn’t just go and make rackets for nothing.

“Maybe I’m dreaming,” Allen mumbled to himself, not really buying it. Well, there wasn’t any sense in trying to avoid it. If Cross were back, Allen was bound to run into his guardian eventually. That meant fowl mouth, booze, and all.

Allen found the priest in one go, shuffling through the refrigerator, glass clanking together. It was dealing with Cross or no food, and Allen couldn’t just give eating up. The teenager waited for Cross to back out of the door before clearing his throat.

“Good, you’re up,” Cross grunted, not even turning back. “You can make breakfast then.” He turned to the table, several bottles of beer in hand, leaving the fridge wide open. Allen stifled a sigh and took his guardian’s former position, digging out the eggs from behind Cross’s new alcohol collection.

“Welcome back to you, too,” Allen said, sounding just as enthusiastic as he felt. Cross was a pretty minimal guardian at best, but having him around wasn’t enjoyable. If the man caught wind of Allen’s love life at the moment, there would be a lot of taunting better left unsaid. “I didn’t hear you come in last night. You’re unusually quiet.”

Cross snorted, taking a large portion of his drink down in one gulp. “Doesn’t matter,” he dismissed.

As far as Allen was concerned, it _did_ matter. Hearing Cross was an imperative part of surviving him. “What about Elizabeth?” Allen asked. “Don’t tell me you decided to ditch her in Malaysia or wherever the hell you were.”

“Bangladesh,” Cross clarified. “She wanted to stay a bit longer. Made friends or some shit.” Allen cracked open an egg into a bowl, deciding to make them scrambled. “I’ll go back and get her at some point. Not that big a deal.”

Allen could have easily argued that it was a big deal, but Elizabeth probably wouldn’t take his side anyway. Acceptance was easier anyways. “And how long are you planning on staying for…?” That was the big question anyway. Nothing else mattered as long as Cross wasn’t planning on staying forever. The man lit up a cigarette, adding another awful habit to his ever growing repertoire.

“Who knows,” Cross said dismissively.

“Who knows?! Shouldn’t _you_ know?!”

Taking flight from Allen’s shoulder, Timcanpy let out a chirp of warning and perched on top of the refrigerator.

* * *

Ivy had offered up her apartment for residence Sunday, seeing as the snow was pretty much inescapable. They had paused for lunch, even if Ivy was really only capable of pulling together a few simple dishes from the freezer. Kanda didn’t complain much, so Ivy considered the operation a success, clearing up dishes in the aftermath.

“So was yesterday as stupid as I think it was?” Kanda asked, rinsing off dishes in the sink. “Any trouble from the Rabbit I should know about?”

Ivy shook her head. “Lavi was well behaved, I promise.” She couldn’t say the same for the Lolita girl with the scissors, but that was a different matter. All things considered, Ivy thought she had handled the situation well. “No crazy games of hide and seek or anything. Just a nice relaxing afternoon between Allen and Lenalee.” Yeah, a nice relaxing date. She deserved one of those, if Ivy thought so herself.

“Then why are you so tense?” Drying his hands off on a nearby dishtowel, Kanda shut off the sink. Ivy smiled a bit. He had always been good at picking up on her moods before, but he usually didn’t take the time to voice his observations. “I’m serious, if Lavi did any—”

“Lavi was fine.” Ivy placed her palm on Kanda’s chest, hoping to calm him. “I’m just getting a bit tired of spending all my free time taking care of this nonsense, that’s all.” She paused, not quite able to make eye contact. While she was bothered, it seemed like a silly thing to say out loud. “Um, Kanda…do you think I need a dress?”

“Huh?”

Kanda’s expression twisted into confusion, and Ivy would have found it cute if she hadn’t been so frazzled.

“No, it’s actually just—I thought maybe—Never mind!”

Ivy attempted to retreat back to her calculus notes, but Kanda easily snagged onto her arm, moving so they faced each other. He even placed his hands on her shoulders, preventing an easy escape. “Slow down there,” he said, voice surprisingly calm. “Would you run that by me again?”

Ivy gave herself a moment. Facing down goth kids ready to fuck up shit with scissors, sure, but talking about ordinary teenage stuff seemed to be far more difficult. “A dress,” she repeated, not even liking the sound of the word. “The Valentine’s dance is coming up, and I just know I’m gonna get dragged along with this whole TRIangular nonsense. So I wasn’t sure…if you thought I would look good in a dress or not.”

Kanda may have kept his expression stoic, but he cycled through surprise, interest, and irritation pretty quickly. Ivy lamented not being a mind-reader in situations like these. “Let’s start over from the beginning,” he suggested. Since Ivy didn’t seem inclined to run away, he released one of her arms but kept a hand on the other. “First up, this depends. Were you planning on scouting things out by yourself, or is this your way of asking me to come with you?”

“Well I wouldn’t ask anyone else!” Kanda smirked as Ivy huffed and regained control over her voice. What a dumb thing to get worked up over. “But I didn’t know if you’d want to come. Dances don’t really seem like your thing…” Not that they were hers, either. But playing referee for Allen didn’t seem like an option.

And maybe she was a bit curious about what it would be like. Maybe.

Kanda considered the options. Had he ever gone to a school dance in his life? Once, in middle school. At a certain rabbit’s suggestion. It had been carnage, and so the incident had never been repeated. Ivy was right that dances weren’t his thing, at fucking all.

“Are you going?” he asked. That was the cincher. He didn’t want a repeat of the Millennial incident, but the alternative was missing out on a couples holiday with his girlfriend. Even if Valentine’s Day was another corporate nightmare, he could appreciate the sentiment a little bit. Ah, the wonders of a committed relationship…

“Most likely,” Ivy answered, picking up her pencil and twirling it between her fingers. “I’m willing to bet that’s what we’ll talk about at the meeting tomorrow, our plan for the dance. I’d rather not leave Allen alone with Lavi as his only backup.” Ugh, the more she thought about it, the more of a pain in the ass it sounded like. After this whole mess was over, she needed to focus on ordinary life for a bit.

_If that’s even possible with our company._

Kanda nodded, wondering just how many ways he could dismantle Lavi and which would be the best form of payback for this whole mess. “Alright,” he decided, “then I’ll come with you.”

Ivy dropped the pencil clattering to the table and leaving scuffs of lead across her open notebook. “You will?”

Her expectant expression was enough to give Kanda pause. No backing out of it now, not that he had been planning to. “I’m not gonna let you deal with that shit alone.” Ivy knew him well enough to recognize his way of being romantic. She scooted her chair a bit closer to his in appreciation. Plus seeing the faint brush of blush on his cheeks was a bonus. “Now about the dress…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to wear one?” Kanda asked. “Or do you think you need to wear one? ‘Cause there’s a difference.”

Ivy wouldn’t admit Lavi as the cause for her dilemma. Even if it had just been a passing comment, it still bothered her. And while her tomboyish attitude had served her well in the past ten years or so, it didn’t have to be her sole philosophy in life. “I think…I’ve never tried it,” she admitted, settling for tapping her nails against her thigh. “And I guess I wouldn’t mind? I don’t know if I want to wear one. But I guess I wanna know if you’d think I’d look good in one?” She cast a glance to her boyfriend, ignoring the uncharacteristic urge in her stomach to avoid eye contact. To hell with hormones.

“I think you’d look damn good in anything you chose to wear.” No hesitation. She had to give him props for that one.

“While that’s sweet, Yu-kun, I’d rather you be honest. I don’t mind.”

Kanda muttered an extra explicative under his breath. Ivy didn’t mind, though they both wished the situation was over with by now. Dating for a month and a half, and our resident couple were still out of their element. Poor things.

“I guess I would like to see it,” Kanda said, his voice quieter than usual. It added a slight rumble to his voice that Ivy couldn’t appreciate for her own frazzled state. Kanda held up a palm to stop her response. “That’s only if it’s what you want. I want you to be comfortable, okay? You’re not a dress-up doll, and you don’t need to wear a shitty dress if it’s not what you want to do alright?”

“Alright,” Ivy mumbled with a smile. She scooted her chair over again, bumping into Kanda’s side. He stiffened a bit when she rested her head on her chest, but relaxed soon enough. “Thank you, Yu-kun. I feel better now.”

“Good.”

They sat still for a few moments until Ivy pulled back. At this point they were just making up excuses to stay around each other with all their homework done. There was only so much review and work ahead you could do before you remembered how boring schoolwork was. Ivy cleared her throat. “If you don’t just wanna hang around here all weekend, I’d get it,” she said. “Especially since everyone’s coming over for TRIangular tomorrow. I’m glad you’re gonna come to the dance with me, but you don’t have to put up with that.”

“Hm. Why not? I’ll join in.”

This time Ivy was too stunned to even have a physical reaction. Kanda Yu participating in one of Lavi’s schemes. Willingly at that. Dear god, could we stop having harbingers of the end of the world and get to it already?

“I already lost one day hanging around with you because of them. Damn if I’m going to lose another.” And if Kanda was going to go to the dance, he should at least have an idea of what he was getting into. At this point, getting operation TRI-what-the-fuck-ever done and over with took the top of his “annoying shit to get out of the way” list.

Which was all a convenient justification to himself about being a bit protective. But, hey, baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Ivy wasn’t going to argue if he insisted. “Okay, but how do you plan on killing time until then? I think I’ve had enough crossing into the cold for one weekend…”

“Not sure.” Kanda flipped Ivy’s notebook closed. “But it sure as hell doesn’t involve pretending to do homework all day.”

Ivy could get behind that, one-hundred percent.

* * *

While most high schoolers would see Sunday morning as a time to sleep in, there were those that had other plans and responsibilities, and Road Kamelot was one of them. As was tradition, Sunday morning marked the weekly breakfast gathering of Millennium Private High School’s top echelon of students, also known as the Chairman’s favorites. Formal dress was required, but Road had gone the extra mile in selecting her dress and styling her hair in preparation for the battle to come.

Tyki on the other hand had gone the bare minimum, even being so bold as to avoid a tie. At least he had slicked back his hair, fixing that haphazard mop it could be otherwise. Road needed the Chairman to be in a good mood for this to work, and Tyki being a slob wasn’t helping.

“Can’t you even put a _little_ effort into this for once?” she scolded as they crossed paths in the hallway. Immaculate and over the top—that described the dorms to a T. Neither early-riser seemed impressed, but pure exposure could do that to you. “I swear, sometimes I think you’re just blowing these things off because you think it’s funny.”

Tyki huffed a little, wishing he could get away with smoking inside. Even hitting the legal age for that didn’t change the school rules, though. It was a shame, really. “You’re in a good mood today,” he chose not to rise to the bait. It said something that Road’s good moods involved being spiteful as all hell, but you took what you could get with the girl. “I thought you’d be more upset after you lost out to the Black Order girl the other day.”

Road scowled, jabbing Tyki in the side with her elbow. He took it with a grunt. “Are you trying to start shit? _You_ went off and left me. I would’ve had much better luck if you’d given me some backup for once!” She had _not_ lost. There just wasn’t a point in fight with someone who had half-hearted convictions anyway!

Tyki was unfazed by his cousin’s outburst. “You better not let Sheril hear you talk like that. He’ll get on me for letting you use such words.”

Road stuck out her tongue. “Sucks to be the one left with babysitting duty, huh?”

“With a hellion like you? Absolutely.”

Road shrugged and made sure her petticoats were doing their job as they approached the Chairman’s private dining area. Based on the chatter, a number of their fellow guests were already there. Opening the door only increased the bustle, Davis and Jasdero having a meaningless argument to the side, a few others watching. Several, such as Lulu and Wisely, were already in their seats at the long table, stretched out and seated for thirteen. As always, the end of the table across from the Chairman’s place remained empty of a chair.

Tyki slinked off to an empty corner in an attempt to avoid conversation. Road would have followed on a normal basis, but she didn’t have time for that today. She’d just have to pester him later. For the moment, she took up sentry next to the door, waiting for her chance.

It came soon enough, Lero opening the door and signaling the arrival of just the man Road had been waiting for.

“Chairman!” she exclaimed, launching herself at him. The Chairman took her affections in stride, letting Road hang off his shoulders. The others said their greetings as he entered the room and started the way to their seats, though David and Jasdero’s bickering didn’t subside. “I’ve been waiting to see you.”

“I missed you, too, Road,” the Chairman greeted. “And to all of my Noah. I trust you’ve been well.”

Responses bounded across the room. Road dropped into her own seat as they passed it, and even Tyki dragged himself into his place across from his cousin. Finally, Millennium Private High School’s Noah were assembled. Road kicked her feet back and forth, waiting for the right moment while Lero led the rest of the serving staff in bringing out the dishes. It wasn’t long before breakfast was served and a noisy consumption began.

“You’ve been super busy this week. I haven’t seen you at all,” Road complained, picking at her food as she went. It was the sort of fare one would expect from even Millennial, but she had eaten food of that quality all her life. Besides, the real objective was in sight. “You should stop by and see us more often.”

“Sorry, Road dear, but I had a lot to take care of this week,” the Chairman apologized, more watching than eating. He held these meetings to get the chance to check in with his favorite students. Sometimes he went a whole Sunday morning without even taking a single bite. “I heard you had an interesting time yourself.”

Road didn’t even look ashamed. The incident at the restaurant could be used as leverage after all. Manipulation came to her second-hand. “I did and I met someone super interesting.” Even just thinking of Allen brightened her mood. She couldn’t waste the chance to get closer now. “He’s a Black Order student, but I think he’d make a good candidate for us. Noah material, even.”

The Chairman raised an eyebrow over his monocle. The rivalry between Black Order High and Millennium Private High School wasn’t unknown, and cross-contamination between the students was unheard of.

“So I think it’d be great if there was a way to show him how great our school is, you know?” Road continued, adding a sweet lilt to her voice.

Even out of the collected Noah, Road was high up on the Chairman’s list. He took her words in stride. “I take it you have a plan for this, then?” If this proposed student had the potential of a Noah, then he couldn’t just let the opportunity slide.

“I do.” Road spoke with clarity and conviction. That was more than enough to pique the Chairman’s interest.

“And what’s this student’s name?”

“Allen Walker.”

And both of them smiled. Because for Road her plan had worked. And for the Chairman, because some things just happened to line up perfectly.


	32. 32. TRIangular: Nonsensical Meeting

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

32\. TRIangular: Nonsensical Meeting

* * *

Lavi was the first to arrive at Ivy’s apartment. This wasn’t saying much as he had picked up Allen, and the Brit had chosen to take a more rational approach to climbing the stairs. Actually, it was the white-haired boy’s first time to his friend’s apartment, since she didn’t tend to offer it as a hangout space, but he was certain that he’d be able to find it based on the noise level.

“What the heck’s Yu-pon doing here?!”

See that? Turns out he was right. Not that Allen liked the implications. What the heck _was_ Kanda doing at such a nonsensical meeting?

This day could only end in tears. Place your bets now.

“Oh, I get it,” the redhead rambled, still in the doorway, “this is the new thing for you two. First Ivy-chan stays at Yu-pon’s house, now it’s the other way around. I can’t believe you two are trying to steal Allen’s limelight with your own secret relations. I won’t allow it, you know. Lavi-nii—”

“Shut up and get inside before I change my mind,” Ivy hissed across the threshold. Maybe it had been a bad idea using her place. At least with Allen and Lavi’s places, the usual volume spikes could be ignored. Here, shouting was bound to cause some hassle. At least Kanda was around to (please let this be effective) keep things down. If he didn’t add to the commotion. _Fuck this._ “Hey, Allen.”

“Good morning,” the Brit responded, his voice lacking the usual energy. Cross had been home for about twenty-four hours, and he had managed to grind down Allen’s nerves in record time. Getting out of the house had been essential. Even having Kanda present while Lavi dissected the Brit’s love life seemed preferable to another hour in Cross Marian’s presence. “Thanks for having us over.”

You had to hand it to him. Even all that pressure couldn’t stop Allen from being polite.

Everyone was allowed inside (Lavi after a pair of glares from the resident Japanese couple which just signaled potential bodily harm), and Ivy dragged over chairs from her small kitchen table to complete the seating arrangement. It was a small apartment, and sparsely furnished. Allen couldn’t tell if Ivy’s practicality or cheapness played the bigger factor.

Once he was satisfied with the gathered parties, Lavi stood. He would have preferred to use the chair as a perch, but playing on Ivy’s home territory stilled that particular impulse. His platform would get knocked out beneath him faster than he could even get a word out. Settling because he was a good sport like that, Lavi cleared his throat.

“Well, today starts the newest meeting of TRIangular, which has had his super clever name busted by the fact that Yu-pon has brought our member count to four.” At this rate they would have to change their name to QUADrilateral, which just didn’t work in the provided context! “And so I bring us to our first point, which I stated beforehand: Why the _heck_ are you here Yu-pon?!”

The flung out form of Lavi’s arm as he pointed at his best friend set the stage for a perfect disaster. Allen braced himself and wondered if his chair could serve as a proper shield or if he should dive for better cover. This afternoon had gone from ending in tears to ending in bloodshed in a matter of seconds.

Despite all expectations, Kanda remained seated on the couch with his arms crossed. “I’m tired of you stealing my girlfriend,” he said, voice not even spiking in irritation. Allen and Lavi exchanged surprised glances. Maybe it was Ivy’s presence next to him that was keeping things calm. “Don’t mind me. Just get your stupid planning over with so everyone can get some peace.”

“Alright…” Lavi drawled, even though he wasn’t convinced. If the redhead wasn’t still trying to calm himself down how things were developing inside his own heart, he’d have done a better job at trying to put the presented pieces together. As it was, he locked onto a more long-standing (not really) issue to keep his sanity (what even). “So is that the same reason you had Ivy-chan stay over at your place the other day? ‘Cause you’re tired of us ‘stealing’ her?”

Allen was glad Ivy hadn’t offered refreshments. Because he most certainly would have been eating at the moment, and he most certainly would have choked on it with Lavi’s words.

“Lavi, your SSGTIK nonsense ended _months_ ago,” Ivy interrupted. She kept her hands folded in her lap and a smile on her face, but she was still wearing her jacket. Remembering her retrieval of a screwdriver the other day, Lavi felt a deep sense of dread for his personal safety. “We’re here to help Allen. Move on, will you?”

Even as she said it, she knew no one would really move on from the remark, but discussing it was nobody’s business but hers and Kanda’s. Allen’s face was red enough as it was.

Realizing the conversation was about to turn on him, the Brit sat up straight and prepared himself. Ivy and Lavi had watched over his incident-free date, so there wouldn’t be much questions on that front. Instead the war council (Lavi’s words, not his) would be focusing on the future.

Namely that weekend.

Namely the Valentine’s dance.

To say that all parties involved were nervous would be a bit of an understatement, even if their reasons differed.

“So how are you feeling, Allen?” Ivy asked, trying a more productive approach to the conversation. She still had her doubts about her own outfit choices, but Kanda had done well to assure her. Besides, she could worry about that when the collective of all her male friends were _out of her apartment_. At this point, she needed just as much room to breathe as Allen did. “I mean, you’ve had one date a piece. Not to say that’s enough to sort out your feelings, but have you made any steps forward?”

Lavi plopped back into his seat and scooted his chair forward in curiosity. “Yeah, you know who you’re gonna ask to go with you?” If Allen could pick someone out, then the redhead could stop being such an idiot with his own feelings and focus on something else. Plus, he was just a sucker for a good love story, all the drama and frustration bits included.

Allen gave a wary glance to Kanda, but the Japanese boy had closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep. Not that he _was_ , but it was easier to just listen than participate. It’s not like he cared about the Bean Sprout’s love life or anything. “Well,” Allen said, adjusting his gloves, “I don’t think I’m going to ask either of them.”

You couldn’t have had a more profound silence in the middle of a desert.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Brit!” Lavi exclaimed, leaping up from his seat. Act overdramatic and no one would catch on to the tiny bit of hope in his heart. Bookman would have called it useless. Kanda resisted the urge to trip the rabbit as he passed. “You can’t just leave them hanging like that. You’re gonna seriously hurt a girl’s feelings if you leave them alone on the holiday of love.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “Sexist remarks aside, I think it’s fine,” she defended. Sure, it made a bigger headache in the long wrong, but you couldn’t force feelings. “Remember, Lavi, Allen has the final say in how we approach things. You can’t expect him to sort out every feeling he has after two dates.”

At least Allen had an ally somewhere. Kanda thought Ivy was trying too hard for the Beansprout’s sake, but kept his mouth shut. She was just a concerned friend. Lavi remained scandalized.

“Okay, but like, this is _Valentine’s Day_ ,” the redhead pressed. He really couldn’t take much more of this. “I’m all for you being responsible with your feelings, Brit, but wouldn’t it be anticlimactic if you didn’t date someone at the end of this? I just don’t want you to pass up on such great timing, you get me?”

“I get you, Lavi,” Allen said with a sigh. “I don’t want to disappoint either of them, but I’m sure they’ll understand. Ari’s your sister, so she’ll take it with stride. And Lenalee figured out what’s going on, so she’s okay with me making a proper decision.”

“Wait, _Lenalee_ knows?” Ivy asked. When Lavi failed to give a similar reaction, she eyed the redhead. “Thanks for the update, Lavi. Goddamn, does everyone know what’s going on? Why don’t we stop sneaking around and have a big giant pow-wow to get it over with?” Preferably without her. That would be nice.

Kanda reached out an arm to drape around Ivy’s shoulders. It was as good of a show of moral support as he could give with that stubborn attitude of his.

Hoping to keep up the momentum without creating a disaster, Allen said, “A-alright, so for the dance I’ll go, but I’m not going to take a partner. I’d like it if you guys would come, so we can try to make it a group date.” That was stretching it and he knew it, and Kanda’s presence didn’t help. The dark-haired boy wouldn’t react well to puppy dog eyes, not that Allen would try to use them on a bastard like that. “And who knows, Lavi, maybe something climatic will happen after all.”

Lavi scratched his chin, running through scenarios. It could work, so long as thing played out in the right fashion. Which with their group wasn’t a likely scenario, but hey, he was a miracle maker. Anything could happen! “Hm, okay,” he allowed. “We’ll just focus on having a good time all around, and if things start heating up, we can back up. Sounds good to me. You, Ivy-chan?”

The Japanese girl nodded, her hair swaying with the motion. “I’m down, but Yu-kun and I are going to be a couple,” she said. Aforementioned boyfriend smirked a bit at his inclusion. “We’ll help out if things get super crazy, but I’d rather be backup support.” This _was_ their first Valentine’s Day as a couple, after all. Spoiling the memory with another out of control evening just wouldn’t do.

“And I’d rather not be involved at all,” Kanda spoke up. “Both me and Ivy, you get it?” Oh, Lavi could read that glare loud and clear, thank you very much. He had years of practice. Then against, all odds, he looked to Allen. The white-haired boy prepared himself for a fight. “And if you get second thoughts, Beansprout, give it up for a while. Watching you be so wishy washy about this is pissing me off, so get a move on.”

And with that, Kanda dismissed himself to the kitchen for a drink. He had tried, but there really was only so much rabbit-induced stupidity he could manage.

Ivy clapped her hands together. “And with _that_ said, are there any closing remarks? We’re letting things develop on their own, it seems, so I don’t think we need a big plan or anything.” Kanda could use a breather, and Ivy herself felt that an evening reading something was in order. Maybe it would take the edge off the approaching Monday.

“Yeah, I think we’re good,” Lavi said, for once doing more than just reading a hint and acting on it. He nodded a few times and adjusted his bandana. “As long as the Brit’s happy with the course of action, then I can’t complain.” It wouldn’t do him any good, after all. Allen gave a thumbs up as his approval. “Then meeting dismissed. What do you say we stop being cramped up all winter and go get some pizza?”

How adorable, Allen’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. And at the mention of a reason to stay the heck out of the house. He was the only one looking _forward_ to having classes the next few days. Still better than dealing with Cross. “I’m in.”

“I’ll pass,” Ivy said, surprising no one. “I’ll need my rest if I’m going out this weekend.” Plus Kanda wouldn’t take the offer in his mood. This was a weekend to break out the hot cocoa if there ever was one.

“Fine, you and Yu-pon will miss out on the hot, cheesy deliciousness,” Lavi lamented, but didn’t press the issue. Okay, this was just getting suspicious. Ivy would have to keep an eye on him; something was beyond up. The redhead gave his best effort at a blink. “That leaves me and the Brit, unless you wanted to invite the girls. I’ll leave that up to you.”

Allen’s face paled, and he wasn’t proud of the fact. He trusted both Ari and Lenalee, but they had declared their intentions loud and clear. That pizzeria was one of the few places in town that didn’t mind Allen’s stomach. Causing an incident or just feeling awkward could wait until the dance. “No point in driving around all over the place. Plus I don’t think Komui would be happy with me being around Lenalee right now.”

“Fair point.” Lavi nodded with a grin. Were his feelings of excitement stupid? Yes. But even if it was bro time, hanging out with Allen sounded like just what the doctor had ordered. “So pizza for two then.” He gathered up his jacket and keys and headed for the door. “Thanks for letting us use your place, Ivy-chan. Much appreciated!”

And with a two fingered salute from Lavi and an echoed thanks from Allen, the two were gone. Ivy breathed, ran a hand over her face, then locked the door behind them before heading into the kitchen. Kanda sat at the table, hunched over a cup of tea. Ivy stepped up to give him a short hug from behind.

“I hate everything,” Kanda grumbled.

“Not everything,” Ivy corrected. The boy grunted in affirmation. “And you did good out there. Five points, at least.”

Kanda snorted. “Feh. Make it ten and then we’ll get somewhere.”

* * *

Lavi’s current scarf was one of his coziest, so the winter chill didn’t bother him much. Allen, for being so slight, had spent more than his fair share of time in unfavorable conditions when he was young, and this town wasn’t the farthest north he had ever lived, either. That didn’t stop both boys from acclimating to the heat inside the pizzeria with joy.

The staff members caught onto the white-haired boy’s presence and went to report to the kitchen. Lavi tried to estimate just how many pizzas they would go through, but got distracted by his line of thought.

Allen hadn’t chosen either girl to take to the dance. Not because he didn’t like them, but because he wasn’t sure. Whoever Allen would date in the end would have one of the most genuine and caring people as their partner. And, even if it was only a tiny sprout in the back of his mind, Lavi could acknowledge that he wanted that, just a little.

_I’m sure that when Lenalee told me it wouldn’t be weird if I liked dudes, too, this wasn’t what she had in mind._

Yes, it had been the guy at Millennial that had started the mess, but Lavi wasn’t going back there anytime soon. And if he were to be honest (as he always strove to be, for shame to think otherwise!), Allen could fit into the equation. In fact, Allen very much _did_ fit into the occasion, sitting in the booth opposite of Lavi, drooling over the scent of fresh cooked dough filling up the building.

“So was there anything else you wanted to say at the meeting?” Lavi asked. Most people were scared off by the weather and lunchtime had passed so it wasn’t like anyone could overhear, but Allen jumped nonetheless. The topic had been settled, hadn’t it? “I figured you wouldn’t want to talk about things all the way with Yu-pon there. So did we miss anything?”

Allen considered it. He hadn’t noticed in the moment, but maybe Kanda _did_ have an impact on the discussion, beyond his grumpy dismissal. And what had been up with the last remark? Who cared if stupid Kanda got pissed off by watching him? Allen would do whatever he wanted! Screw that guy!

“Easy there, Brit, your scary face is coming through,” Lavi warned. Come to think of it, all his friends could be pretty damn terrifying in their own rights. What the heck was up with that? “I just figured I could provide some confidence if you need it.”

The Brit poked at the straw of his drink as their server placed it on the table. “Well, I’m still nervous about the whole deal. I mean, I don’t feel qualified enough to do this whole love triangle thing.” Oh, sweetie, who really was? “And not to be rude, but both Ari and Lenalee can be stubborn. I can see them trying to corner me in my free time or something…” In the end, he was more worried about infighting than anything else, but the concern still held.

“I got ya, I got ya.” Lavi loved Ari, but he knew firsthand just how her stubborn episodes could go. In Lavi’s case, that was pain, but Allen should at least be safe from that fate. He couldn’t say the same about Lenalee, but Komui’s wrath was on the line, and even Ari wouldn’t go that far. “Well, how about I give you an out? If things get tough, you can say you have plans with me this week, and we’ll go do something fun. Oh, I have one condition, though.”

Allen gave a tentative nod. “Thanks, but you’re gonna have to tell me that condition first.” Friend as Lavi may be, he could drag Allen into any number of haphazard situations, and if Allen agreed, he’d be obligated to follow through.

Lavi, on the other hand, was following through with something he had never expected to do. But, hey, go big or go home had been his life motto for a while, now, and he might as well live up to it.

“If you do go out with me, I want it to be as a date.”

“Whot?”

That had not been the answer Allen had been expecting.

QUADrilateral, indeed.


	33. 33. Revving Up

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

33\. Revving Up

* * *

The news hit the school like wildfire: over the weekend the Chairman of Millennium Private High School had contacted Principal Hevlaska and offered to host their Valentine’s dances as a joint event, in the interest of forming a closer bond between the schools. This included allowing Black Order High School students access to the massive ballroom MPHS had rented out for the event.

The responses were mixed. Several sports team’s members and fans grumbled about sharing a dance with their rivals. A number of students were excited about the change in locale, a far cry from the recreational center in the park that had been the norm for several years. Plenty of people lamented their clothes wouldn’t be up to par. There was so much talk in and out of class that even Ivy, who tended to distance herself from such things, had heard about it before Lavi had sent her at least fourteen passionate text messages about the subject.

Lenalee had heard the news (of course she had, there wasn’t a rumor at Black Order High that the younger Lee sibling _didn’t_ know about), but she had other things to focus on in her free time following her English class. Like the upcoming Valentine’s carnation exchange.

It wasn’t anything complicated. Pay a dollar and you could send any student in the school district a color-coded carnation to be delivered in the last period of Valentine’s Day, the upcoming Friday.

_It’s always Friday, isn’t it?_

Lenalee herself had always gotten a number of purple secret-admirer flowers, her potential suitors too afraid of Komui to put their names on the things. Lenalee didn’t blame them, and she took care of her bouquet with pride. But this year she planned to be on the sending end of things and was trying to figure out which combination of flowers to send to Allen.

Red, for love, was a given. Pink, though it stood for crushing, made a nice color compliment. Toss in a few “you are my sunshine” yellows, and it would make a pleasant collection to set the right mood for the dance, even though Lavi reported that Allen was taking a feel-things-out-in-the-moment approach to Friday.

_But is this going to be enough?_ Komui had spoiled Lenalee on her dress budget, and she still had leftovers after picking up her ensemble the previous day. She could easily send Allen a mountain of flowers, but she didn’t want to give him a handful on the bus ride home. Going overboard could seem like a cheap tactic, too. Things would have been easier if she knew what Ari was doing.

Too bad Lavi had stuck true to his no favoritism rule. Ari had the same information that Lenalee did. Things were coming down to the wire, and it had to be A-Game from here on out. That would be necessary with the sub-goal of “Blow Allen Away,” the precursor to “Win Allen’s Heart.”

One couldn’t tell if it was better that Lavi had been in charge of naming the SSGTIK or not.

In that case, she should hold true to herself. A small batch of carnations would do. Digging out the order form from her planner, Lenalee marked out the number of flowers and their colors, directing them to Allen and signing her name with a flourish.

Satisfied, Lenalee stood as the bell rang and headed to the lunch room to get her order in before Komui caught wind of what she was doing.

* * *

Lavi, too, had other worries. And what way to get those worries out than to ramble to an uninvolved party?

On the premise of getting seconds at lunchtime, he snuck back into the lunch line to ask Jerry for advice. Since two of his friends were romantically entangled, two wanted nothing to do with this, and one was the subject of conversation, the chef was the best option. Beyond always being willing to listen, he could keep a secret. Lavi didn’t know of a single person that had had their secrets spilled by Jerry, and the Bookman boy knew a lot.

Like, _a lot_ a lot. Seriously.

“…and so I brought up a date and he kind of laughed it off like a joke, but when he realized I was serious, he took it in stride. Told me he was unsure. So I guess it was kind of unfair of me dumping this on him when he’s got all this other junk going on, but I didn’t want to miss my chance, you know? And things were okay when we were eating breakfast this morning, but he was mostly eating. Did I screw up? I feel like I screwed up.”

Jerry sucked in the words as he refilled the lunch portions for the following period. Whoever had made the hiring decision for Jerry had done the students of Black Order High a great service, as each meal was delicious. This sort of scenario wasn’t out of Jerry’s line of expertise, either, and he had heard stranger stories than this over the years.

“Well, honey,” Jerry mused, “I think you were brave for taking a chance on this. And I hope you’re satisfied with whatever result you get.” He thought the situation over. Even with only partial details, he had a pretty clear picture. It was amazing the number of things you could learn about kids while just serving them food. “I don’t think you screwed up, but I do think you should play it cool, Lavi. Don’t expect too much and let Allen work things out on his own. You get me?”

Lavi sighed, trying to figure out which entre he should pick out that he could actually eat without setting his stomach into overdrive. Jerry’s cooking was delicious, so that wasn’t even an issue. “I figured you’d say something like that,” he admitted. It was better to try than to guess, though, even if the redhead had very accurate guessing capabilities. “Well, my hat’s in the ring. I’m not out of this game yet.”

Jerry tapped off the ladle in his hand before brandishing it towards the ceiling. “Don’t give until it’s over, Lavi-chan. I believe in you.” With a well-executed flourish, Jerry twirled the ladle and went right back to his preparations. “No matter what, I’m rooting for you kids to get the happiness you deserve. So go and give it all you’ve got!”

Lavi’s trademark grin resurfaced, damn near splitting his face in half. “Thanks, Jerry. You’re the best.” At last settling on a serving of curry, Lavi shuffled out of the empty lunch line and punched his code in at the register before skipping off. Satisfied, Jerry started humming to himself, ready to enjoy a breather before his afternoon home ec class.

“Jerry, I need your help, please.”

Allen Walker was no stranger to the Black Order High cafeteria, and Jerry was used to the young Brit reemerging for seconds, thirds, fourths, and so on. Allen’s record was reaching sevenths, and Jerry took it as a challenge to keep every student and faculty member full. However, there were other things on Allen’s mind that day than eating until his stomach was on the verge of bursting. Do restrain your disbelief, please.

Setting his pot to a simmer so it wouldn’t overboil, Jerry whirled around and clapped off his hands. “You know I’m always around to help you, Allen. What second course are we looking at today?” Without a tray in his hands, though, Allen couldn’t quite carry anything out of the line, and he’d already been scolded for trying to eat right out of the dishes years ago. Jerry cocked an eyebrow. “Allen, dear, is everything okay?”

“Yes. No. I think?” Allen’s stomach twisted up with such ferocity it would’ve made a blender jealous. He slumped against the milk cooler, shoulders hunched in, and Jerry switched straight from chef to mother hen mode. “I’m just confused. Like, really confused.”

Having just heard the details from Lavi, Jerry knew what it was about, but he didn’t let secrets spill. He’d been the trusted confidant of Black Order High students for years, a reputation he was almost as proud of as his cooking skills. And for someone like Allen, who didn’t participate in gossip or opening up much, space and time were necessary in making him comfortable.

“You know you can always talk to me,” Jerry said. He wiped off his hands on his apron and leaned up against the wall by Allen. The lunch dishes behind him continued to cook, and he kept track of the savory scents so none of them burned. “I told you when you first moved here that this cafeteria is a no judgement zone. Whatever it is, I’ll have your back.”

Relief started to loosen the coil in Allen’s nerves, but the stress was still getting to him. Everything was just piling up, and while he knew—he _knew_ Lavi hadn’t been trying to make things worse, it was just another thing to worry about on his already reaching high list of concerns. So he spilled it all out to Jerry, voice quiet, even though it wouldn’t break through the chatter going on in the main lunchroom.

“…and Valentine’s is on Friday, and I don’t even know if I’m ready for this,” he said, nearing his conclusion. Jerry had been quiet the whole time, the perfect listener. It was no wonder he saw more traffic than the actual guidance counselor’s office. Allen wrung his hands together, pressing together the fabric of his gloves. “I mean, Lenalee and Ari are one thing, because I think we have an understanding, and I know I like them. But I don’t know if I like Lavi. I mean, I don’t even know if I like blokes? I mean, I like girls for sure, but I know that doesn’t mean I can’t like guys, too.” He scratched at his head, sending pure white hair in all directions. “Why is all of this so complicated?”

Sensing it was his moment to shine, Jerry reached out to pat Allen’s shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you want to give Lavi-chan consideration, even if you’re not sure.” Kids sure could grow in the couple of years that you knew them. One of life’s many miracles, if Jerry could say so himself. “But you don’t have to force yourself to make any decisions, for him or the girls.” Allen looked up, gray eyes wide. That sounded way too easy for the chaos he lived in. “Life’s too short to waste time, but it’s not long enough that you can’t think things through. Follow your heart, Allen, and you’ll make the right decision. That’s what I think, at least.”

“Follow my heart, huh?” Allen looked back to his hands and clenched his left fist tight. For a moment, there was a buildup of pressure—but when he realized it, he felt lighter. “Yeah, I get it. Thanks, Jerry!”

Cue the high-class blinding Allen smile. Good thing none of the collective interested parties were present. Jerry almost passed out as it was.

With a cough, the chef regained his composure and stood up tall. “Glad to help, honey. Now, don’t pretend you don’t want something else to eat. I still have plenty of leftovers ready to go.” Jerry retreated behind the serving counter and spread out his arms. “So hit me with what you’ve got, Allen.”

And Allen snapped to attention like a puppy with a treat dangled in front of his face and pretty much teleported to the counter, a fresh tray in hand. “Well, in that case I’ll take…”

_Goodness, kids these days,_ Jerry thought, but he served Allen with a smile.

* * *

Slumped over a table in the teacher’s longue, Komui admitted he had not been having a good day. No, he hadn’t been having a good weekend. To be honest, February was an utter month of hell, given that there were all sorts of fools who would dare try to use Valentine’s Day to get close to his beloved Lenalee. No matter what Komui did, there was always someone who was brave enough to think they could survive the Wrath of Lee Komui, or some new freshman who didn’t know any better because they lived under a large, social-impairing rock would try to win over Lenalee’s heart. Through a combination of the Lee sibling’s intimidation (the older brother) and polite rejections (the most precious of younger sisters), no such suitors had been successful.

But that year was different.

That year there was one.

“Allen… Walker,” Komui said, his voice not sounding too far like he had been possessed by some otherworldly entity, though one would have to question what demon would be foolish enough to even try. The little bastard had dared to take Lenalee out on a date! And she had come back smiling! Sure, it would’ve been worse for him if she’d been disappointed by the whole thing, because no one broke Lenalee’s heart and got away with it, but the alternative meant there might be more dates in the future, which was all the worse. “I won’t forgive this… I won’t allow any of it!”

“Are you still going on about this?” Reever approached the table and, after a few minutes of pained consideration, sat down next to Komui. As Komui’s closest friend (and sometimes maybe even his only one), it was Reever’s job to keep Komui’s nonsense from affecting the rest of the faculty and students. They had at least arrived at the end of the school day, but it _was_ still Monday, and four days remained until Valentine’s was over. “Komui, you’re a teacher. You’re supposed to be teaching these students, not plotting their demise.”

“I will plot the demise of whomever I damn well please!” Komui reared up from his seat with the force of a vengeful scientist who hasn’t had enough coffee (or maybe too much). Poor Lenalee, she still had a year left of this. Though it could be worse for Allen, who would remain at Black Order High once his friends graduated. Komui produced a rather concerning looking metal drill, left aside from the Robot Fight Club preparations. “In fact, I’ll go execute his demise right now!”

“What sort of damn logic is that? No, wait!”

Komui was already storming his way towards the door. Even though it was the end of the school day, plenty of students were still milling about, either for clubs, sports, or just general hanging out, and the halls were packed. With a Lenalee Protection Mode Komui, there was no way for the fiasco to end peacefully. Reever, abandoning his coffee and taking one for the team, lunged at Komui’s legs. On any mere mortal, the tackle would’ve taken out their legs, but Komui dragged himself forward, undeterred.

“I’m gonna go put Allen Walker out of his misery right now…!”

“You can’t, you idiot. I’m seriously telling you, you can’t!”

“Getting involved with my precious sister…”

“Why are you always like this?!”

“Lenaleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—!”

The passionate cry was cut off as Komui bumped into a passerby who hadn’t gotten the hell away from his rampage. Komui paused, drill still in hand, while Reever looked up from his position on the ground and jumped to his feet in a flash. The woman looked at the two science teachers with a frown on her plush lips and a crease in her brow. Likewise, Komui and Reever glared back, sending both metaphorical and literal sparks flying. It seemed the drill was even more dangerous than it appeared to be at first glance.

“Lulu, come on,” a girl’s voice said. “I wanna get to the meeting so I can get this over with. I still haven’t finished touching up my dress yet.”

The woman’s lips pursed, then they slipped into a small smirk. “Yes, of course. Rabble like this isn’t worth wasting my time on, anyway.”

A collective vein broke in Komui and Reever’s foreheads. No matter their disputes, the wavelengths of friendship still applied. Without waiting for a retort, Lulu Bell, Millennium Private High School alumnus and current teacher, pivoted on her heel, dark ponytail swaying behind her.

“Reever,” Komui said through gritted teeth, “just what in the world is that woman doing here?”

“I think,” Reever said with a twitch in his eyebrow, “that she’s supervising the joint committee for the dance. That girl with her was in the MPHS uniform.”

“Just what is this world coming to? I don’t understand what Hevlaska is thinking.” Komui sighed, running a hand through his hair. “At this rate, the Noah will be attending the Robot Fight Club—oh. Oh, oh, oh.” A maniacal grin wound its way across Komui’s face, and he looked back to the drill in his hand before grabbing onto Reever’s shoulders. “That’s it, Reever! We invite the Noah to the Robot Fight Club, and then we crush that woman’s bratty students. It’s perfect!”

Reever blinked. He sure was craving at cigarette at the moment, between Komui’s wildly flinging moods and everything else going on, but that didn’t stop part of him from agreeing with the idea, just a little. “Alright, I’m with you. But if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have to do this right. We’ll need to give the Science Club all the support we’ve got.” Herding Komui back into the teacher’s longue, Reever acted both out of preservation of the student body and the inherent desire in him to see a Noah get wrecked.

The fact that it kept Komui distracted from Valentine’s Day was an additional bonus.

* * *

“Lulu, you’re smiling way more than usual,” Road said, kicking her shoes across the Black Order High floors with every intention of leaving scuff marks. Even while in uniform, she had added petticoats to flounce out her skirt, and being one of the director’s favorites meant that no one could give her shit about it, either. Not that anyone would dare to try. “What’s that about?”

Beside Road was Lulu Bell, who, as predicted by Reever, was escorting Road as the ambassador for coordinating the schools’ dance efforts. Anyone who would question such an appointment would have to be a certified moron, considering Road had volunteered for the position herself. The two drew multiple stares as they worked their way to the art room, where the dance committee was meeting, but neither female let the sheer confidence in their gaits drop.

“Just some old rivalries,” Lulu said. It had been some time since she had faced off against Black Order members, but they were fun memories nonetheless. “More importantly, I know you’re not here to take responsibility for this joint dance. What’s your real game?”

Lulu hadn’t missed the way Road was combing the halls in search of something that wasn’t the art room. Road didn’t even bother to look ashamed, folding her arms behind her head. “I’m just hoping for a chance to see the real objective here.” The real objective very much being Allen Walker. Sure, they’d be going to the same dance on Friday, but Road was never one to waste an opportunity. Lulu raised a thin eyebrow, and Road giggled. “Just a new friend. I’m sure the Director will mention it sometime soon enough.”

_You mean a new toy for you to mess with,_ Lulu thought, but didn’t bother to voice the thought. Older or not, even the other Noah knew not to mess with Road when she zoned in on a target. The creepy giggles were a sure warning sign. “Well, so long as you remember to keep up appearances. We are here representing the Director, so—”

“Holy crap, that’s actually him. I’ll be right back.” Not even bothering to heed Lulu’s warning, Road zipped off, a smile spreading across her face. It’d be cute seeing her get so worked up over a crush if she weren’t being a verifiable stalker in the process. Sure enough, finishing sorting through his locker and preparing himself for the torment of another evening with Cross at home, was Allen. He finished packing up his bag, locked up his locker (it wasn’t even a combination, Road noted, making it easier to break into to), and turned around. The girl before him was unfamiliar, but she was smiling. “Hi!”

“Uh, hi?” Allen resisted the urge to look around the hallway, but even with just his peripheral he could tell there wasn’t anyone else Road could be speaking to. Her unfamiliar school uniform just made it more confusing. “I’m sorry, have we met before?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Lulu, retreated out of the immediate vicinity, rolled her eyes at the half-lie. “I’m just the ambassador for Millennium Private High School, Road Kamelot. I’m helping out with the dance!”

The best part was that it wasn’t even a lie. Scratch that, the best part was watching the baffled expression form on Allen’s face _in person_. Road put on one of her disarming smiles (the ones that those close to her knew to never ever trust), and Allen’s face turned red in an instant. “Th-that’s nice of you,” he said, scrambling for a response. Just what was it with people lately? First Ari asking him out, then Lenalee’s declaration of war, then Lavi, and now this? “Did you need my help with something?”

Part of Allen was insisting on a retreat, but that wasn’t polite, and his manners won out over everything, even as Road put on a smile that sent a shiver up his spine. He had to be overthinking it; she was just a kid, right? Without any concern for what ordinary people would consider personal space, Road stepped closer. “Well, since we’re working on bringing our schools closer for this event, I think it’d be best to have as many people involved as possible.”

Lulu checked her watch. It took less than five minutes for Road to start ignoring social conventions. Not quite a new record, but still an impressive time.

Allen caught the connotation and let out a nervous laugh. It just made Road adore him more. “So you want me to help?” Road nodded fast enough to send her wild hair flying. Allen rubbed his arm, making eye contact out of sheer willpower. “Sorry, I don’t think I’m really the best fit for that.”

“Aw, don’t be silly.” With even less consideration for Allen’s personal bubble, Road sidled up to his side and latched onto his arm. He flinched; she just giggled. “You seem like you’re organized and dedicated. We could totally use someone like you!” Alarm bells, commence making a racket.

Despite the ever creeping sensation of dread building up in him, Allen wracked his brain for something—really, anything—he could say that wasn’t outright _get the bloody hell off me_. “I have plans already, so I shouldn’t be late.”

_Why in the world is she so fixated on me coming with her?_ The pout that fell onto Road’s features just served to confirm that was her endgame. Road herself, starting to lose her patience, gripped harder. Lulu watched, trying to figure out at just what point she might have to stop the situation from erupting into a full-blown Road Kamelot tantrum.

“Is it such a big deal? I’m sure your friends would understand.” They’d understand if Road got her hands on them, for sure.

“We’ve been planning this a while, though…”

“You can just invite them along. We could use the extra hands now!”

“Th-that wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“Why not? What’s so important you’ve got going on that you can’t lend someone a helping hand? Is it because I’m a Noah?”

“N-no, not at all!” If it weren’t for the vice grip Road had on his arm, Allen would’ve been waving his hands in denial. School rivalry or no, that was going too far.

Still, she locked Allen in a glare. By that point, the remaining students had cleared out, leaving him without any backup. “Well,” Road said, refusing to let Allen so much as blink, “what is it then?” Scrambling for a response, Allen blurted out the first answer that came to mind:

“Because I’m going on a date!”

Something inside Road Kamelot snapped, and Lulu decided that the time to move had arrived.


	34. 34. Preparation Comes in Many Forms

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

34\. Preparation Comes in Many Forms

* * *

“This is dumb,” Ivy said to herself. Her reflection stared back from the mirror in the changing room, disgruntled expression agreeing with the sentiment. If it weren’t for that, she might not have even recognized herself thanks to the dress. It was dark blue, which was tolerable, but the way it hugged her chest and waist seemed wrong, even though it was lacking in the ribbons and lace that seemed to be on most of the dresses in the damn store. It didn’t matter if it fit in size; fitting her was a different matter.

“You okay in there?” Kanda asked from outside. Ivy jumped, the mirror making it all to easy to see the blush settling in on her cheeks. “Are you having trouble with a zipper or something? If it doesn’t fit, I can pass you a different one.” Based on the sound of his voice, Kanda had moved closer, and Ivy smacked her cheeks to _wake the fuck up_.

“I’m fine,” she said, even though she didn’t feel anything like it. Deciding that being a pussy wasn’t helping any, Ivy gave in and opened the door to the changing room stall, stepping into the boutique. It was one of the (many, oh so many) stores Lenalee and Allen had gone to on their date, with white paint visible behind the veritable walls of clothes and dresses. How so much fabric could exist in one place and there still couldn’t be anything that Ivy wanted to wear was beyond her. Forcing herself not to look grumpy or like the hive of butterflies in her stomach was about to erupt, Ivy took an experimental turn. “And Yu-kun’s ranking is?”

Being a good boyfriend, Kanda gave Ivy an appraising look. She tried not to blush darker under his gaze. It was a sleeveless dress, with a tight-fitting bodice that let loose around the waistline into a skirt that looked like it gave plenty of mobility without having too much fabric. Shoes abandoned in the changing room for the moment, Ivy’s dark socks peeked out from under the hemline.

At such a moment, the ordinary response was to offer praise, which had been Allen’s strategy over the weekend. And while there was nothing wrong with compliments, Ivy had made it clear she wouldn’t be accepting empty works, and Kanda just didn’t _do_ lip service.

“The color looks good on you,” he said after several moments. If Lavi were present, he would’ve flipped out over Kanda Yu giving such a willing compliment. Since Ivy was the only one around to hear it, though, she just tried to ignore the way her heartbeat started going wild. “You look uncomfortable, though. You don’t like it?”

Ivy flinched. As antisocial as Kanda was, he still knew how to read the people he was around on a consistent basis. And dating Ivy kinda meant that he was around her a lot. Not bothering to hold back her sigh any longer, Ivy rubbed her shoulders. “It too cold for all this sleeveless junk,” she said, then caught herself. “If you like it, though, I can…”

“I’m not compromising your comfort for what I think you look nice in.” Catching the compliment in the words, Ivy felt a smile slipping onto her face. Kanda checked to make sure there wasn’t anyone he knew in the immediate vicinity, then let himself smile, too. “Come on, there’s a ton of crappy stores in this mall. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.”

Ivy snorted. “It’s not very nice to call places we might be buying something at crappy.”

“They’re crappy if you can’t find something you like in them.” Ivy’s smile stretched out closer to a grin. It was better than her masked discomfort from before. One mission accomplished, Kanda touched a hand to Ivy’s arm and urged her back towards the changing room. “Go ahead, get out of that thing. If you wanna try on something else or get out of here, I don’t mind.”

Stepping back into the mirrored threshold of the changing stall, Ivy snuck a look over her shoulder. “You sure you don’t mind? At this rate, we’ll be in the mall all night.” Given the past hour hadn’t had any success, Ivy didn’t feel confident about her chances in finding a dress she liked in one evening, let alone in time for the dance. Despite that, Kanda didn’t feel the least bit perturbed by the concept.

“Damn shame that, spending an evening with you.” Ivy shut the door before Kanda could see her blushing. He noticed anyway. “Trust me, this is nothing like some trips I’ve had Lenalee drag me on. I can take it.”

“Alright, but you said it, not me.” Amused by the image of Kanda loaded up with the spoils of one of Lenalee’s shopping trips (Ivy had seen Lena’s closet once. It was a wonder everything fit), Ivy worked on undoing the zipper and shaking out of the dress before trying on something else.

_If Lenalee can find ten-thousand things to wear in one trip, I can find just one outfit that I like. How hard can it be?_

* * *

_Sure, Lavi, just make the condition for hanging out with you going out on a date! It’ll be a good way to let Allen know your feelings. Nothing could go wrong with this plan at all!_

Sweat slicked Lavi’s palm, and he fumbled with his putter. The dark of the indoor, glow-in-the-dark mini golf course hung over everything, save for the patches of color from the obstacles. Not even ten feet away, the glowing circle at the end of the hole seemed way too far away, given the twists and turns on the path. A few steps behind to give Lavi enough room to swing (minimal as it was needed for put-put golf), Allen admired Lavi’s concentration.

_I didn’t really expect him to go through with it. I mean, sure, I’m pumped, but my body was_ not _ready for this. Is this awkward? I’m sure this is awkward. Dammit, Lavi, just put the damn ball, already!_

Finished lining up his angle (but not his thoughts in the slightest), Lavi made his put. The hot pink ball bounced off the neon green walls, ricocheting far enough to make it into the final square with the target hole. Allen golf clapped, as the situation called for. “Nice shot, Lavi.”

“Yeah, thanks.” The dim lighting made it hard to see each other’s expressions, which Lavi was grateful for, since flustered was an understatement for how he felt. He swung his club up over his shoulder, carving a pink arc through the air. “If I’d given it a little more force, I think I could’ve hole-in-oned it.” Ari was better at things like that than Lavi was, but he wasn’t about to bring up his baby sister who also had a crush on Allen when he was on a date with said crush.

_I’m on a date. With Allen Walker._

Given that it was a Tuesday afternoon on the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, there wasn’t much of a crowd clamoring to play indoor mini golf, so the two boys had the place to themselves. Both of them had their own nerves about it, given the connotations, but Allen stepped up to putt anyways.

It was better than getting dragged around by that Road girl anyway.

“Well, if you think a hole-in-one can happen, maybe I can make it,” Allen said, rolling his club around in his hands. Unlike Lavi’s pink, he had gone for basic white, and the two dots of color lined up as he prepared his ball for action. Lavi stepped out of the way and tried not to look too much like he was staring. “Alley-oop.”

With a series of successive taps as it ricocheted off the walls, Allen’s ball made its way towards the hole. His angle wasn’t as precise as Lavi’s, and it zoomed past the hole, but ended up closer in the long run. Lavi returned the gesture of a golf clap and added a whistle for extra credit. “Lovely shot, Brit.” Allen smiled (shit it was adorable), and Lavi bounced across the small course to make his next move. “Though I’ll admit, as happy as I was that you took me up on my offer, this wasn’t quite the out I was expecting to give you. Ari and the Lenalady were behaving themselves.”

A nervous laugh bubbled out of Allen’s throat. “Sorry, guess I kind of sprung this on you without any explanation.” With the way Road had been sticking to him, there hadn’t been too many options. Allen waited for Lavi to take his next put, which rattled into the hole, marking his score at two. “I thought things would be calm, but there was this girl from Millennium, and she was freaking me out.”

“Whoa, you got hit on by a Noah?” Not knowing how in the world Lavi came to the correct conclusion so fast, Allen’s swing went wide, missing the ball by a good half a foot. He pouted, and Lavi held up his hands in apology. Not his fault part of being a Bookman was having brilliant mental capacities, if he must’ve said so himself. With Allen’s ball successfully in the hole and the pair moving on to the next, Lavi added, “Everyone just wants a piece of ya, don’t they, Brit?”

Allen performed the high-difficulty task of choking on empty air. He scored brilliant marks, too. “But—Why—I can’t believe you just said that!” Allen fumbled to not drop his ball, the fingers of his gloves flashing in the dim light as he put them up in succession. “First Lenalee, then Ari, then you, and now this other girl. What is with you people?”

“Hm, well, if I had to put a reason on it…” Lavi hummed, hopped into place, and lined up his next shot. Given the amount of curved turns, a hole-in-one was impossible, so he’d have to settle for trying to sneak under par. “I’d say it’s just because you’re damn cute.” Never one to waste the chance for flirting, Lavi tossed in one of his patented One-Eyed Rabbit winks.

The timing of Allen’s jaw dropping in time with Lavi putting his ball onto the course was a nice touch of the universe.

Being a gentleman, Lavi stepped aside for his date (mother of god, his _date_ ). It took Allen’s brain a few moments to reboot and recognize it was his turn. At the rate they were going, Lavi would be able to feel the heat burning off of Allen’s face before long, though the reality was closer to their combined efforts were going to negate the need for any central heating in the place.

“Speaking of cute, though, how about that Noah?” Lavi asked, with an air of breeziness to his voice. “I mean, sure, she gave you major bad vibes, but was she at least pretty?”

That time Allen straight up just dropped his golf ball, and the putter along with it. Given that the place was pretty much empty save for them and some staff, there wasn’t a pressing need to move the game along. Even Allen’s politeness didn’t have a ready counter. “Lavi, wasn’t this supposed to be a date?”

“It is a date.” Lavi’s intention of pretending to have a superior smile gave way to the grin he just couldn’t hold back. “But you’re also trying to figure out if you wanna go steady with my sister and our mutual friend, so I’d say trying to pretend like this is an exclusive thing is kinda silly. And just because I am interested in you doesn’t mean I can’t still appreciate the lovely ladies in the world.” He flipped his club from one hand to the other (mad ninja skills, man), using the putter end to poke at Allen’s arm. “So, spill: was she cute? At least tell me what she looked like.”

It was a sound argument. Allen never knew whether to be grateful or concerned whenever Lavi started making sense. The moment at hand allowed flustered to come to the forefront of emotions.

Had she been cute? Sure, besides being over-the-top insistent, her self-introduction had been polite, and her smile was even pleasant. “Bad vibes aside,” Allen said, retrieving his dropped golf supplies, “I would say she was cute.” Lavi nodded, leaning in for more details. “She was in uniform, of course, but she had these sharp gold eyes.” Just remembering the way she looked at him was worth a shudder. “And her hair was distinct, too. It was styled up. Kinda like yours, but bigger.”

Lavi pushed up his bandanna. “No one’s hair is bigger than mine. This will have to be corrected.” Allen snorted, but managed to knock his ball farther down the glow-in-the-dark path than Lavi had. Considering how cute Allen looked, Lavi didn’t mind. Too bad his brain had the tendency to run off in twenty-different directions when he caught onto new information. “Wait, big hair, gold eyes, bad vibes…about this tall?” Lavi tossed up a hand, and Allen nodded, confusion slipping back into him again. That level of guesswork went way beyond the usual Bookman intuition. “Shit, man.”

“What? What is it?” It could’ve just been the somewhat spooky lighting, but Allen didn’t like the look on Lavi’s face at all, and that was coming from a guy who had been friends with Lavi for years. It almost made him miss the archery incident. “Lavi, you’re worrying me, and not like usual. _What?_ ”

“Okay, like, try not to freak out.” It was hypocritical advice from someone who was in the process of _freaking the fuck out_ , but Lavi took in a breath to steady himself and locked single eye to the pair of eyes watching him as best he could. “I think I know who that girl is.”

Allen’s stomach wouldn’t have performed several aerial flips and feats if it weren’t for the all-too serious tone in Lavi’s voice. Two months late, and the end of the world was at last upon them. “And?”

“And,” Lavi said, for once in his goddamn life _not_ trying to play things up for drama, “she was at the mall when you went out with Lenalee. She pretty much pulled scissors on Ivy-chan.”

“What?!” Allen’s voice echoed off the walls of the golf course. Not wanting to have the staff overhear his incoming panic attack, Allen stepped closer to Lavi and dropped his voice down to a whisper. “Scissors? Why the bloody hell didn’t you guys mention this?”

Lavi’s hands would’ve flown up in defense if the action wouldn’t have smacked Allen right in the chin with the put-put club, which hadn’t been even close to the plan for the afternoon. He had to settle for putting on his best puppy-dog/rabbit pout, hoping it would count as forgiveness. “You were at the same meeting I was. There was no way that would’ve fit into the flow of the conversation.” Never mind the usual wayward direction of TRIangular, Ivy had all but threatened Lavi not to bring the incident up. Considering she’d stared down Psycho Loli with a screwdriver, he hadn’t been willing to push his limits. “Look, no one got hurt, so it didn’t seem important at the time.”

Brushing hair out of his face, Allen tried to catch onto a bit of sanity in the situation. Then he realized there hadn’t been the slightest bit of sense since he’d moved to Black Order High and the bonkers town it was in, so what was even the point? “Okay, so maybe now it _is_ important,” he said with a huff. “If we are talking about the same girl, and God I hope we aren’t, then my bad feeling wasn’t just a feeling, and she’s super bad news.”

“And a Noah. Don’t forget she’s a Noah.” Allen nodded. As if the whole thing hadn’t been awkward enough, school pride just added to the fire. Allen might not have been on the same level as some of his classmates and outright hating any of the Millennium kids, but his competitive nature did push him towards a negative inclination. Lavi was down for dissing on anyone who freaked the Brit out. Even Ivy hadn’t liked her, which wasn’t saying too much, but that didn’t just happen without a reason.

And then Lavi’s Bookman memory kicked in and he wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

The Noah had mentioned that Lavi had been at Millennial.

She’d called Allen by name on Saturday, though they hadn’t met until yesterday.

“Brit, I hesitate to say this without any concrete evidence, but there’s the _tiniest_ chance you might have a stalker.”

Such news tended to be taken in two ways: the first, with the brush off that it was a joke; the second, with terror or at least some sort of self-preservative alarm. But Allen Walker had grown up under the care of Cross Marian, which meant that Allen Walker had _seen some shit_ , which meant that Allen Walker didn’t scare just from the mention of a stalker. It took mention of one off Cross’s many hounding debt collectors to even get a rise from the kid, and even that was a long stretch after so many years of immersion therapy. As such, Allen didn’t even blink.

Lavi waited a few minutes for a reaction. Sure, he might’ve said to not freak out, but _something_ was warranted with that sort of drop. “Uh, Brit? You hear me?”

“I heard you.” Allen stepped back a bit, his top notch angelic smile slipping onto his face. It was almost enough for Lavi to forget what he was so worried about. “I mean, I could be worried, but I have you guys as my friends, so I know I have you all as backup. Not to mentioned she’d have to be really out of it to try to get close to the house when Cross is inside it.” Shitty guardian or not, the bastard had his perks. Lavi bobbed his head in agreement, and Allen retrieved his fallen put-put supplies from the ground. “So let’s set aside the stalker issue for another day. I don’t want to ruin our date with talking about gloomy stuff, okay, Lavi? This is to thank you for your help, after all. Besides, I gotta crush you at this golf course.”

“‘K-kay, I’m down for that.” Lavi’s heart hadn’t started beating so fast since Ivy had decided to murder him in dodgeball, and _that_ had been for all-too different reasons. Allen Walker was an undeniable saint, despite the competitive drive seeping out of him. “Though, while I’m all for moving on and enjoying my date with you, can we really afford to leave this for another day?”

Allen set himself up to take first shot at the hole but glanced over his shoulder at Lavi. “Why not?”

“Well, she’s a Noah, so she’s from Millennium Private, right?” Allen hummed in affirmative, pulling back for his put. “Doesn’t that mean she’s gonna be at the dance on Friday? Y’know, where Ari and Lenalee are gonna be trying to win you over?”

Allen’s white golf ball whizzed through air, cutting a white streak through the darkness that landed several holes over.

“ _Shit._ ”

* * *

Tyki opened the door to a whirlwind of clothes flying in all directions through the air. Given that Millennium Private had regular room inspections, most dorms remained clean. Even the Director’s favorites, who tended to be exceptions to most rules, were expected to maintain the standard of appearances. Even Road didn’t push her luck that far, which the casual observer might not have guessed given the state of her room.

Clothes weren’t the only items that had been flung everywhere. Several books, enough candlesticks to make a pyromaniac sweat, and the dozens of plush toys Road collected had created such a mess that Tyki almost couldn’t tell what was what, let alone have a clear patch of floor to stand on. The owner of the room herself was at the closet, still tearing what seemed to be her entire wardrobe off the hangers and into oblivion. Tyki stepped aside as a rather massive petticoat almost landed on top of his head.

“You know when you get like this I always get sent to check on you because I’m your cousin,” he said.

Road clicked her tongue, not even bothering to turn around. “Sounds like a personal problem.” She pulled out a pair of striped tights, imagined what it would be like to ring the pigtailed girl’s neck with them, then sent it to join the rest of its clothes brethren. Against his better judgement, Tyki closed the door behind him, and Road at last turned around at the noise. “If you’re here to calm me down, Tyki, I’m not listening.”

Her response was to be expected. For most mere mortals (like Lero), her response also carried a clear connotation of “get the fuck out before I make you regret it.” Tyki was a veteran, though, and no stranger to what Road was capable of. However, Road may have been fierce, but she was also just scraping under five feet, and Tyki liked the advantage his height gave him.

So he said, “Lulu told me what happened,” and leaned against the doorframe. He did keep the knob free of obstruction, just in case, though. Considering Road started pulling on the blouse in her hands enough to make the seams start to pop, it was a good call. Tyki tucked his hands in his pockets. “I don’t understand what the big deal was. You already knew he had a date.”

“No, he was on _a_ date,” Road said, seething. Lero would not be in for a good time the next time she saw him. As therapeutic as ranting to Lulu on the drive back to the school was and the sweet satisfaction of wrecking her living space was, bullying Lero paled in comparison. “But this was a _second_ date. That means it wasn’t just a fling.” Never mind that Road’s assumption was incorrect, the world had to be worried about just what she’d do with that assumption. “If he’s serious, I can’t just let it go.”

At last, the buttons of the blouse went flying, accompanied by the sound of ripping cloth. Not looking forward to the cleanup he was going to be subjected to later, Tyki hoped he could minimize some of the damage. “So what are you gonna do? Hunt down his date?” Road smiled one of her patented Foreboding Pure Evil smiles. Tyki would’ve been more worried about suggesting the idea if Road hadn’t already thought of it on her own. “Do you even know which one of them he went out with again? You said there were two.”

Humming, Road skipped across her carnage. “No, I don’t. While I did ask to be the head of the dance committee just so I’d have a chance to see him again, I _did_ have a meeting to go to.” She kicked aside several plushies in her tromp, knocking the poor things against bedframe, wall, and shelves alike. You’d be able to hear their cries in your soul, but Road was very much out of any soul that day. She picked up a stack of her committee notes and flapped them at Tyki across the room. “Everything’s settled, though, so there’s just a few closing preparations. And that pigtailed dress up doll was dress shopping, so I’m sure my Allen’s going. I just need to go, then I can take care of my interference problem there.”

Tyki turned to open the door, but without exposing his back to the enemy (i.e., Road). “Well, since you’ve settled that for yourself, there’s no need for me to do anymore. Have fun with your—”

A candlestick smacked into the door next to Tyki’s hand with enough force to dent the wax. It hadn’t been an accidental miss; Road’s aim was too good for that. “Not so fast, Tyki,” she said, almost singing. “I know you’re going to the dance. You already picked out an outfit.” _Just when the hell did she figure that out since she’s been in major stalker mode the past two weeks?_ Road snatched up a few more candles and started prowling towards Tyki. “I think this would be a great time for you to be my backup. You know, _real_ backup.” If that brown-haired Black Order girl was going to be there again, Road couldn’t risk making any moves without some form of support. She stopped a few feet away from Tyki, his hand still hovering near the doorknob, and smiled. “What do you say?”

Tyki had his own plans for the evening, and they didn’t involve catering to Road’s insane needs. “Absolutely not.”

“Hm. I’ll tell where you’re hiding your cigarettes.” Legal age or not, smoking wasn’t allowed on campus.

A glorious eye-roll from Tyki. “Like it’ll do any good.”

“Oh, goodness, my mistake.” Road twirled a candlestick between her fingers, looking almost bored. “I meant to say that I’ll tell _Sheryl_ where you’re hiding your cigarettes. And that you smoke them around me.”

Now _that_ was a battle no one wanted to participate in. Tyki groaned. “What’s your _damage_?”

_Check and mate,_ Road thought, then dropped all potential weapons and glomped Tyki hard enough to slam his spine straight into the doorknob. Ignoring his grunt of pain (or maybe even because of it), Road giggled and cheered, “You’re the best, Tyki! Thanks a bunch!”

Tyki just hoped that whatever Road’s plans involved, they would stop short of murder. Having to bail because he needed to hide a body wasn’t very romantic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks much to Maistyria for the comment!


	35. 35. Friday Morning: Little Gestures

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

35\. Friday Morning: Little Gestures

* * *

At the rate things were going, Fridays might end up kicking Monday out of the number one Kanda’s Least Favorite Day position, though it was a close call. Between Lavi being ridiculous and getting his date night stolen away by the Beansprout’s relationship issues, Fridays had started to carry a certain sense of bullshit to them. And through no fault of that Friday, it was Valentine’s Day, which meant that the entire fucking student body of Black Order High was losing their goddamn minds.

Some committee or another had gotten together in the name of the holiday spirit and had thrown about decorations with all the reckless abandon of the Bookman siblings hyped up on caffeine combined with the aesthetic sense of several sheets of pink and red construction paper fed through a paper shredder. The damn stuff was everywhere, and while they’d avoided the pretense of lace, there were still mobiles of cupid silhouettes hanging from the ceiling every other hallway. Combine that with the hubbub of confessions and trading valentines and heartbreak and candy, and Kanda wanted to strangle every holiday-wired moron that got caught in his path.

 _Why do these people even bother to come to school if they’re not gonna try to learn anything?_ The lack of focus and chatter about the dance had meant that lessons were minimum at best. The only good thing about that was homework had been limited, so Kanda was able to slink into the study room during his free period with a minimal workload to even consider.

“Hi, Yu-kun,” Ivy said when she slipped into the room a few minutes later. No amount of trying to counter Kanda’s negativity could counter the utter loathing she had for the uproar outside. It didn’t help that she’d gotten caught in the crossfire of someone’s attempt at bolstering holiday spirit, and thus had been blasted with bright pink confetti. She dropped her bag to the ground and started trying to shake the damn stuff out of her jacket. Kanda raised an eyebrow, and Ivy grimaced. “Don’t ask.”

“Fair enough.” Kanda had plenty of wayward holiday adventures he didn’t want to recount, most of them the rabbit’s fault. This year, it seemed Lavi was more subdued, but Kanda wasn’t about to take his chances when they had the whole evening to get fucked up. “So then we’ll talk about something else.” Ivy finished falling into her seat and looked up at Kanda. He reached to the table and proffered a box. “Valentine’s Day is shit, but you’re my girlfriend, so here.”

Ivy snorted, a smile creeping over her face. She ducked into her own bag, providing a box as well. “Valentine’s Day _is_ shit, but you’re my boyfriend, so I figured I could play along.” Without any other words, the couple traded gifts and started opening them. Neither of them had done any ridiculous wrappings or presentations, so it was just a few moments until they had their respective gifts in hand.

Trying hard not to suck in an obvious gasp, Ivy stared at the small piece of jewelry tucked against the box’s cushioning. She had never been one for trinkets—she had even stopped wearing earrings ages ago—but the bracelet was enough for her to make an exception. The band was a simple silver, and at the center was a small charm of a lotus flower. The gems that made it were fake, but that didn’t take away from how pretty the thing was.

Her own gift seemed trivial in comparison, and she couldn’t tell if the blush on her cheeks was from mortification or from how much thought Kanda had seemed to put into it.

Kanda didn’t have any qualms about his own present, finding a small collection of dark chocolate. He didn’t do many sweets, but if the candy was bitter enough, he could take it. Based on the labels, there was more unfiltered cocoa powder than anything else in the stuff.

“This looks like it’s gonna make my tongue shrivel up,” he said, the faintest upturn of his lips betraying his amusement. He held up one of the chocolate bars. “Where did you even find this stuff?”

“Online. It’s good, but it’s so powerful I can’t take more than a few bites at a time, so I figured you’d like it.” Ivy snapped herself out of staring at the bracelet and looked to Kanda. “Sorry it’s lame in comparison to what you got me. I just figured you wouldn’t like anything showy or overblown, so…”

Kanda nodded, setting the candy collection aside for the moment. For someone who was so confident in the face of most adversity, Ivy ended up worrying about the silliest things. “Don’t worry about it. It’s perfect.” Ivy let out a sigh of relief, though she still felt a little guilty. “It’s not like that cost much. I just saw it and thought it’d be nice for you to have.” Carnations were lame, anyway.

Ivy raised an eyebrow, distracted enough from the flicker of concern still pressing against her chest. “Yu-kun looking at jewelry? Are you sure you weren’t thinking of getting something nice for me?” Kanda’s eyes darted aside, and Ivy laughed. “I love it, Yu-kun, really. I just wish I’d gotten you something as good.”

“Am I supposed to expect something out of you other than putting up with me?” Ivy’s mouth flapped a few times, but she couldn’t think of a proper retort to that one. Kanda pulled the box from her fingers and pulled out the bracelet, clipping it onto Ivy’s wrist with surprising grace. “As long as you like it and don’t mind wearing that, it’s good enough for me.”

Before Kanda could pull back, Ivy pressed her forehead against his, eyes closed. Kanda took a close look at her before shutting his eyes as well, and they enjoyed the small moment of security and warmth.

“There’s not enough points to convey how happy this makes me, so I hope you’ll accept a substitute,” Ivy said, tipping herself into a kiss. They had shared several, but she let it last longer than usual. When she sat up straight again, she pressed a finger against Kanda’s forehead. His brow furrowed under her touch. “And I consider putting up with you an exclusive privilege, Yu-kun. I’ll be sure to convey that properly on White Day, okay?”

Kanda caught Ivy’s hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Deal. But let’s survive tonight first.”

“As long as it’s me and you, I think we can manage.”

* * *

Last period rolled around, and there wasn’t a single classroom that could focus. The slightest noise made everyone zone in on the door, ready for it to open and bring the carnations everyone was looking forward to. When the deliveries _did_ arrive, the teachers were so relieved that they gave up on their lectures and let everyone enjoy the rest of their chatter. Excited squeals and cheers echoed throughout the school as the recipients looked through their collection of flowers.

There was just one person who hadn’t been looking forward to it, and was even less unenthusiastic about his gifted flowers, and for once it wasn’t Kanda.

It was Allen.

Now, he had no problem with Valentine’s Day. He enjoyed it a fair amount, and not even the recent stress over his love life and potential stalker situation could diminish that. What _could_ diminish it, on the other hand, was the full knowledge of just which class he had last period, when said carnations were delivered.

Sophomore Biology, taught by none other than Komui himself.

Allen and Komui got along at most times. Most times just didn’t include when Allen had gone on a date with Lenalee and he was still trying to sort out his feelings in the damn convoluted mess that was TRIangular/QUADrilateral. The collection of about ten carnations that Allen had received that all bore Lenalee’s name (never mind the few scattered others he had received) just sealed his doom.

“An impressive gift you’ve got there, Allen,” Komui said from his desk, which was as littered with papers and dirty coffee mugs as ever. No one in the class dared to be jealous of Allen’s bounty, given that Komui’s wrath was going to come with it. “Do tell us, who’s the lovely sender?” Komui’s smile twitched. He knew, or at least thought he knew, and Allen wasn’t lucky enough for Komui’s guess to be wrong.

Still, Allen coughed, trying to arrange his bundle of flowers so that the gift tags with Lenalee’s neat script (complete with little hearts on all of them) were hidden from sight. “I don’t think they’d appreciate it if I just went and said it to everyone…”

“Nonsense, nonsense.” Komui didn’t even have to try for his glasses to do the evil light glint. “If they wanted privacy, they could’ve just sent secret admirer flowers. They must be serious if they sent so many. I think congratulations are in order!”

 _Lenalee, why have you forsaken me?!_ Sure it was sweet, but she had to have forgotten his schedule. Allen put on his best smile, but it came across strained. “Well, I’d like to keep my affairs private, if you don’t mind.” Refusing to answer was tantamount to admitting Lenalee had been the sender, but Allen would do what he could to delay Komui’s wrath for as long as possible. Just as the deranged science teacher was about to open his mouth, the bell washed over the building, signaling the end of classes. Allen wasted no time in standing up. “Oh, look at that, class is done! I really should get going.”

Before Allen could make any farther moves, Komui threw himself across the room, knocking over several displays and charts in the process. The rest of the class bolted, not willing to be caught up in that shit any longer than necessary. Allen scrambled to join the mass exodus, but Komui snatched onto his arm. Lenalee’s lovely carnation compilation slipped free, and Komui gasped with enough dramatics to give Lavi a run for his money. “I knew it!”

Still trying to shake his arm free from Komui’s grip, Allen prayed as hard as he could for a miracle. He’d even settle for the roof collapsing on top of him, because it sure as hell would be better than whatever Komui could cook up.

“You,” Komui continued, steam all but puffing out of his ears, “have been a good student, Allen Walker. And I have allowed your friendship with my most darling and precious Lenalee because you have never given me reason to doubt you. But this—” He shook Allen’s arm that was still holding the carnations, sending the petals rustling. “I will not stand for this, do you hear me?! If you think you can get away with stealing Lenalee’s heart, then I will oppose you with everything I have!”

“Komui, I didn’t even send her anything. Aren’t you getting mad at me when I haven’t done anything?” As much as Allen hoped the logic would help diffuse the situation, Komui just pushed closer to a hysterical explosion.

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t ever do anything romantic for her? Even after she’s poured her love into these flowers, you wouldn’t even consider it?” Never mind the fact that all Lenalee had done was order them from the carnation committee. “Is my sister not _good_ enough for you, Allen Walker?!”

“Is there a reason you always take things in the worst way possible?!” Having that roof collapse on top of him sounded like a great idea. Allen would kick out the support beams himself if he could. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. At least one of them had to be in a rational state of mind for the conversation to have a peaceful ending. “Listen, Komui, I won’t deny that I like your sister. But I’m still confused on a lot of my feelings—” being part of a love triangle, trying to figure out if he liked another one of his friends, plus just how one was supposed to handle having a stalker all made thinking straight bloody difficult “—and I’m not going to do anything to Lenalee without knowing I’ll be committed to her. I want to respect her feelings. Shouldn’t you do the same?”

If anyone had bothered to stick around, there would’ve been a profound silence from the crowd of onlookers. Instead, there was just several moments of contemplation from Komui, who couldn’t very well decide to be impressed or just plain outraged that anyone would imply he didn’t respect his sister’s feelings. His wavering thoughts slackened his death grip, and Allen wasted no time on breaking free of Komui’s hold, snagging his backpack, and bolting for the door.

“Well it was nice chatting with you, Komui, but hate to say it, gotta run, gotta get ready for the dance tonight!”

He may have been sincere in what he just said, but that didn’t mean he was going to wait around certain death, either.

“You—you little troublemaker!” Komui flew after him, but Allen was fast when he wanted to be (all those years with Cross had been good for something!), and the Brit was already long gone. Komui seethed in the doorway to his classroom, and put all his strength into bellowing, “I’m going to be chaperoning that dance, Walker! Don’t think you can get away with so much as _looking_ at my sister!”

Down in the teacher’s lounge, Reever grimaced at the sound of Komui’s voice and sighed.

* * *

Johnny stopped in the middle of getting onto the bus and looked up. Ari was right behind him, amongst several other students that were ready to get themselves home and ready to go. Most students had the dance marked in their schedules and weren’t willing to be late. The bundle of Black Order Elementary kids didn’t have the same concerns, too busy chomping down on the gift candy they’d exchanged during the day.

“Did you hear that?” Johnny asked. He couldn’t _quite_ place what he’d heard, but it didn’t sound natural, and it sent a shiver down his spine. Or maybe that was just Ari prodding at his back to keep moving. Muttering a quick _sorry_ , Johnny found an empty seat and let Ari bounce into position by the window. “But, seriously, did you hear something strange?”

Ari held a finger to her cheek. “Hmm, maybe, but I don’t think it’s anything to be too worried about.” Her instincts weren’t certain, but, considering what a train wreck the school was on a regular basis, there was a chance she had just become immune. “Oh, I know! You need some candy, mister. That’ll solve everything.”

Not needing a further excuse for chocolate, Ari pulled open her bag, filled to the literal brim with sweets (who needed to carry around schoolwork? Pshaw), and proffered it to Johnny. The sad part was that what Ari had was just a portion of the candy hoard she and Lavi had collected. It would only get bigger once discounts hit the next day, but that was a battle for after the evening’s war.

Johnny selected a few packages of candy, and Ari dumped a few more into his lap before withdrawing a miscellaneous handful for herself. As the bus started to roll away from the school, it became easier to forget whatever weird ominous noise had come from it and focus on the future. “Oh, thanks for the flower, by the way,” Johnny said, patting his lab coat pocket. The light blue blossom stuck out, symbolizing friendship, at least according to what the school decided to designate.

Ari tapped the matching carnation tucked behind her ear with a grin. “And thanks to you, as well! Since blue carnations don’t really have a meaning, I don’t feel as guilty about giving them to people.” She reached next to her bag, unveiling the couple of flowers she’d received. “At least a couple are accurate, but what’s with this ‘you are my sunshine’ bullcrap? Yellow carnations are mad depressing, you know?”

Johnny laughed a bit, unwrapping his chocolate bar. If anything, he knew now, and that was what mattered. “Well, friendship works for me. Did you end up ordering carnations for anyone else? You were iffy about whether or not to give Allen something.”

“Eh, I went ahead and skipped it.” Ari popped a whole Reese’s cup into her mouth, reclining as well as she could into the bus seat. “There’s too much difference in carnation colors for me to get the message I want across. And besides—” She grinned, not caring that she was showing off the chocolate stuck to teeth “—the real show of how I feel is gonna be tonight. Lenalee might’ve sent flowers, but I’m gonna win Allen’s heart, no matter what. With your dress, it’ll be a breeze!”

Flustered by the praise, Johnny blushed and scratched the back of his head. “Aw, well, you helped a lot, Ari, I just modified it the way you wanted…”

“Nonsense, nonsense! _Quelle absurdité!_ You, Johnny, you…” Ari sucked in a deep breath, grabbing Johnny by the shoulders and shaking him about. Poor boy almost knocked his head against the window, but it got the point across. “You are a tailoring genius, and if you don’t _at least_ let me get custom commissions of you when we’re older, I’ll never let you live it down. I will badger you forever. Do you understand me?”

“Understood, mademoiselle,” Johnny said with a smile. “No matter what, I’ve got dibs on your prom dress.”

“Forward thinking. I love it!” Ari tossed up her hand up for a high-five, and the resulting smack could almost be heard over the surrounding chatter of dozens of overexcited children planning their evening romances. “And no matter what happens tonight, you and I shall spend tomorrow ransacking the shelves of their discount candy.” Never mind that the Bookman house was already struggling for space between confections and books; they knew how to make room for the important things. “It’s the ultimate double mission. Can you handle it?”

Johnny pumped his fist. “Officer Gill, reporting for duty!”

And regardless of the stares it brought from around them, Ari and Johnny shouted their battle cry towards the ceiling. Because what else were best friends for?


	37. 37. Throw Down!

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

37\. Throw Down!

* * *

Lavi spent the majority of the macarena trying to get Kanda on the dance floor, and all he had to show for it was a slightly crooked bowtie and a few bumps on his shins that would likely turn into bruises by morning. Even so, there wasn’t any property damage, and in comparison to how things had ended at the last dance Lavi had dragged Kanda to, the resident rabbit was glad enough to leave it at that. If Kanda wanted to miss out on the chance to party, he could be lame all by himself. But for now…

“Who’s ready to jam?!” Lavi said as he bombarded his way into the group of friends, almost barreling Johnny over with the force of his glomp alone. Ari had gotten stuck under her brother’s other arm, thanks to Ivy dodging out of the way. Lavi grinned, nonetheless. “I bet I can out dance all of y’all.”

“ _Pass_ ,” Ivy and Lenalee said in unison. Lenalee, because she knew better from experience; Ivy, because the best she could pull off was following preset dance moves. Anything more complicated than that was beyond her.

“Ohoho, Nii-san,” Ari said, raising a hand to her mouth in mock modesty. The tone of her voice straight up ruined the effect, though. Recognizing the mischievous glint in his friend’s eyes, Johnny wondered if he should just retreat to join Kanda. “Do you really think you can beat me at this game? I won’t even need to take my heels off to outmaneuver you.” While Ari had been hoping to use the dance as an opportunity to inch closer to Allen, she had no qualms about showing off in the process.

Just glad for the fact that competition was happening that didn’t happen to involve him (at least he hoped so), Allen continued bobbing along to the current pop music. “Just make sure you two don’t hurt yourselves,” he said. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to ending the evening with someone in an ambulance. It was a bit sad that that was a valid concern amongst his friends.

“What, you don’t wanna join in on the action, Brit?” Lavi asked, spinning around to face Allen. What was impressive was how Lavi managed to time the motion to the music. While it hadn’t been her original plan, Ari agreed wholeheartedly and turned her expectant gaze on Allen, too. “This will be a lot more fun if we all get in on it. It’ll be fun~.” Lavi accentuated the last word with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Allen eyes darted between the Bookman siblings closing in on him and the rest of their group. Lenalee and Ivy weren’t going to be any help, so Allen locked his gaze with Johnny’s and mouthed a none too subtle “Help me.”

“Huh, me?” Johnny pointed to himself and glanced around, but there wasn’t anyone else familiar in sight. “I-I mean, I’m not very—”

“Johnny, Johnny, _mon ami._ ” Without even missing a beat (in the conversation _or_ the song blasting over the speakers), Ari switched up her targets and latched onto Johnny’s arm. While he hadn’t been planning on running (much), that was all it took to capture him. “Did you really think you were going to be able to retreat so easily?” She didn’t even need to add _You promised to back me up._ It was more than implied.

_I know, I know,_ Johnny thought, counting on the wonders of best friend telepathy to help him out. _You don’t gotta remind me._ Message received, Ari beamed and nodded. “I guess I’m in, too?” he said, tossing up an errant prayer that nobody would die. Being a member of the Science Club tended to mean you imagined the worst case scenario—then made it ten times worse. It was the only way to survive, really.

The Bookman siblings cheered in unison and shared a high five without any ulterior motives. “Alright, that makes three! I know Ivy-chan, Yu-pon, and the Lenalady are out, but there’s gotta be more people than that. Lena, can you maybe invite some more of your friends?”

Flicking her curled pigtail away from her face, Lenalee smiled. “You never do anything halfway, do you?”

“Absolutely not!”

_We know,_ everyone thought, including some of the fellow Black Order High students in the immediate earshot around them. What was impressive was how many different emotions they had between them for a two word sentence. Even so, a few of the others that overheard had just enough curiosity and lack of concern for their wellbeing to want to be involved in the coming mess.

Lavi cheered, his sheer enthusiasm enough to make his voice audible over the pounding speakers. “Alright, let’s get this thing built up and ready to go!” The surrounding Black Order High kids started to cluster in, and Ivy took the moment to step aside from the havoc. Here to backup Allen or not, boundaries were what kept friendships healthy. “Alright, I’ll go tell the DJ to put on some good tunes.” He wound up to dash off but stopped at the sound of Ari’s laughter.

“Goodness, Nii-chan, you’re not thinking big enough.” Ari tried to stifle her chuckle behind her hand. “Why just stop at the music? Let’s turn this into a proper showdown!”

_Why do I not like the sound of this whatsoever?_ Allen thought, but he was too late to voice any objections as the Bookman siblings bolted off, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Johnny sympathetically patted Allen’s shoulder. “We’re bloody screwed, aren’t we?”

“Most likely,” Johnny said, adjusting his glasses.

“Um, guys?” Lenalee asked, squinting through the lights and towards the DJ podium. “Maybe you should look at this?”

The silhouettes of the Bookman siblings were unmistakable as they not only flipped through the song guide, but also chatted with the DJ, flailed around a bit, and somehow walked out of the encounter with a microphone in hand. After another quick scuffle, Ari had taken control of the mic and stepped forward, Lavi quick on her heels as the music dimmed. A few students muttered, and Ari let them sweat a bit before clearing her throat.

“Attention to the attendants of the Black Order High School and Millennium Private High School collaborative dance!” she said, handling the mic like an overenthusiastic talk show host. Trying to slip through the stalled out crowd, Ivy did her best to pretend like she didn’t know them. “I’m sure that most of you from my lovely school don’t need introduction, but I’m Ari Bookman!”

“And I am her fantastic brother, Lavi Bookman!” Lavi leaned over Ari’s shoulder to try and get some mic time. “If you ask us, there’s no point in having a dance without hyping things up a bit, so we’re gonna have a dance-off.” Still seated at the table, Kanda considered leaving right then and there. “Anyone is free to join in, even you Noah guys.”

Seated at her own table, Road raised an eyebrow. “Well, well,” she said, “it looks like I don’t even have to try anything at all to get my one up.”

_And the world will be much safer for it,_ Tyki thought beside her, seriously craving a cigarette. He was just about to consider slipping out for some fresh air before he recognized the pair on stage. “Oho, look what we have here…”

“Well, you know. Assuming you lame-os can dance,” Ari said from the stage. You could almost hear the collective snapping of all MPHS students in attendance. Undeterred, Ari smirked and shook her head, her updo bouncing in waves of red. Johnny buried his face in his hands, trying not to smudge his glasses in the process. “But, hey, we don’t judge. We’re gonna have a good time, even if you guys do suck.”

“Aw, hell no!”

The sound of a high pitched voice emerged from the crowd, and numerous students shuffled out of the way as a new pair trounced towards the stage. Wearing matching suits and makeup and looking identical if it weren’t for their hairstyles, two of Millennium Private High School’s most notorious students, collectively known as Jasdevi, arrived on the scene.

The duo standing at the bottom of the stage, the brunette pointed up at the Bookman siblings. “You think you can just go dissing us like that when our school let you use our location, huh?” he said with a sneer. “There’s no way we’re gonna let you one-up us like that.”

“Yeah,” the blonde said, slouching over, “you little Black Order kids are going down, hee!”

While such a conflict would have normally led to an all out throwdown, the Bookman siblings knew how to read the atmosphere (even if some people would say otherwise about Lavi). Taunting the Noah may have been a bonus, but they really did just want to have fun on as massive of a scale as possible. It was time to put in some crowd control. Ari put a hand to ger heart in mock distress. “Nii-chan, it seems to me like we have some challengers.”

Lavi nodded, his still present bandana keeping his hair from spilling into his face. “I’m guessing that you folks are part of the Noah crew. If you’re gonna come at us, why don’t you share your names?”

“Devit!” said the brunette.

“Jasdero, hee!” the other said, flicking his long blonde hair over his shoulder.

The two leaned back to back and posed. _“And together we are Jasdevi!”_

“Ooh, impressive,” Lavi said, awarding the twins a short round of applause. Ari followed suit. They may have been sworn rivals, but the Bookman siblings could still appreciate a good show. Maybe they’d have a better dance off than they anticipated. “Of course, you’re gonna need a little bit more than some synchronization to best us. Think you’re up for the challenge?”

Devit pointed at the stage with his hand in an imitation gun shape, and Jasdero did the same. “Just you watch. We’ll wipe you Black Order flunkies right off the floor.”

“Alright, alright, alright,” Ari said, using her probably stolen microphone to whip the crowd back up into a frenzy. “You heard ‘em folks. The Black Order vs. Millennium Private dance-off is set to begin. Anyone who wants to participate should come up to the DJ and sign up. One sheet for us, one sheet for the Noah. We throw down in twenty minutes. Be there or be square!”

Ari half considered a mic-drop, then remembered that it was probably a bit more expensive than she (read: the Old Panda) could cover and gently returned it to the very confused DJ. To their credit, though, they quickly turned the music back up and go the music rolling again, even as a wave of students from both schools alike rushed forward to mob the sign up sheet. With a few well placed elbows in sides and kicks to shins, Ivy extracted herself from the crowd and almost collapsed on the table.

Kanda looked up. “Break time?”

“Fuck yes.”

* * *

While the ballroom rented out by Millennium Private was a monster, the hall immediately outside the place wasn’t a slouch in the size department, either. The ceiling was just as high, and numerous other halls and doorways seemed to lead into different rental spaces. Since the area hosted the restrooms as well, a few other students were lingering about, taking a break from the bustle inside the dance. Despite being a place of respite, the pounding music was still audible through the walls.

Kanda was more concerned about getting some semi-fresh air and escaping the impending riot inside. He leaned against the wall, with Ivy right beside him, enjoying the relative silence. Ivy smoothed out her top and leaned over to look at Kanda. “You doing alright, Yu-kun? This isn’t too much for you, is it?”

Kanda grunted, trying to ignore the ever growing frenzy from inside the ballroom. “I’d say it could be worse, but I don’t wanna curse anything.” Ivy snickered, even as Kanda sighed. “I’ll admit that this isn’t my thing at all. And that helping out the rabbit and the beansprout is a pain in the ass. But if I couldn’t put up with this much shit after this many years, we’d probably have a problem.” Ivy gave a bemused smile and bumped her hand against Kanda’s arm. “I just…don’t get the point of dancing.”

“Hm, because you can’t dance?” Ivy smirked a bit, even as Kanda’s eyebrow twitched. He looked away, even as Ivy shuffled closer, tapping her heel against the wall. “Come on, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not like I can dance worth a shit, either.”

“Well that’s surprising.”

“Is it really? Before I came here, I never had much of an interest in this sort of stuff at all, you know.” She’d been too busy getting into trouble for that. Ivy tucked some hair back behind her ear and stared up at the high ceiling.

“Sure, but you’re so stubborn I thought that you’d make yourself good at it by sheer willpower.” A couple of other students slipped past, chattering amongst themselves. “Well, at least it won’t be awkward that we can’t dance together.”

Ivy blinked, nudging Kanda in the side. “Yu-kun, I didn’t know you even cared about that,” she said with a teasing lilt.

Kanda shrugged, even if there was a faint heat pooling in his cheeks. It was a damn good thing they’d slipped away from the others. As things were, Ivy decided to keep the fact that she saw him blush to herself. “Well,” Kanda said, “I didn’t know if _you_ cared about it, so— _oi_.”

“Don’t _oi_ at me, muster.” Ivy pulled her fist back from the light bop that she’d delivered to Kanda’s head, not dropping the mock frown she’d put on. “If you’re worried about that stuff, all you gotta do is ask me. I’m not gonna bite, dumbass.”

“Last I checked, you had a pretty nasty set of fangs hidden.” Ivy raised her fist again, but Kanda caught her hands in his. “Easy there, it’s a compliment and you know it.” Since it wasn’t like she could _disagree_ with that, Ivy held his hands in return. “But I hear your point. I should be talking to you more.”

“Mm, damn straight.” Ivy snuck in a kiss on Kanda’s cheek, then worked on tugging Kanda back towards the ballroom. “As much as I love playing hooky, we should probably get back. With our luck, a bloodbath’s probably broken out by now.” While Ivy was skilled enough to bust up a fight between her friends, it still wasn’t incredibly high on her priority list. She pulled open the door with her free hand, letting out the sound of a very familiar rabbit’s voice shouting through the speakers.

“Hell yeah, dance competition participants of every kind! _It’s time to bust a move!_ ” Lavi shouted, and Ari beside him lead the crowd in a resounding cheer. The Noah twins were also on the DJ platform, helping whip up a frenzy that even overpowered the music. Ivy and Kanda both paused in the doorway, even as a few other students ducked past them to join the festivities.

Ivy glanced at Kanda. “On second thought…”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Their retreat from the ballroom was swift.

* * *

In the center of the impromptu dance off, there was no such thing as a retreat. There was only the floor, the music, and your sick moves. When you stared down the opposing dancer, all you could do was convert your passion into motion and try to stand out on top. There was no room for any sort of error. If you didn’t have conviction, you could easily find yourself in a moment of defeat.

And Ari loved every single moment of it.

The dance competition had quickly exploded into a massive throw down. Lenalee and Johnny had volunteered as judges, and the Noah twins had quickly shuffled in some of their own to serve as a fair committee. While bias was a concern on everyone’s minds, that quickly fell away after a few rounds and everyone got into the music. With a little audience polling involved, soon everyone had gotten into the rhythm, the rivalry between their schools forgotten—or at least much less of a concern in the moment.

“Not bad, don’t you think, Nii-chan?” Ari said, applauding for the latest pair that had just finished up their display. Without any hesitation, the next pair came in as the DJ spun the next track, all accompanied by an energized introduction from the blonde Noah twin. “There’s some good talent out there. We might actually have some competition.”

Lavi sipped at his soda, nodding his appreciation. It would have been fun, even if everyone sucked, but it was nice to have a little extra hype going on. Besides, sweeping the competition without a fight wasn’t even fun from the winner’s perspective. “That’s all cool by me, oh little sister of mine. Doesn’t mean we won’t come out victorious.”

“Come on, Nii-chan, you know I always play to win.” Ari spotted Allen in the cluster of dance party participants and waved, and the nerve-wracked Brit did his best to wave back. “Oh, whoops! I gotta introduce the next participants. Be right back!” Skipping as she crossed the stage, twirling as she went and accepted the mic and pulled the next names from memory. “Alrighty folks, we’re still rolling along here. Looks like next up from Millennium is Tykiiii Mikk! And coming from Black Order, we have—”

Even though he’d been prepared to cheer for his own side, the sound caught in Lavi’s throat. Emerging from the cluster of MPHS students was a tall figure that Lavi couldn’t have mistaken if he tried. And to make matters worse, one Tyki Mikk just so happened to catch sight of Lavi, and that was exactly what he’d planned on. It just took a smirk and a wink for several unintelligible sounds to spill out of Lavi’s mouth.

_Now, now, Red. Why don’t you watch and make this evening worthwhile?_


	38. 38. Chaperone's Bane

**Exception**

By: Aviantei

38\. Chaperone’s Bane

* * *

Komui was on high alert, repeatedly scanning over the dance floor for any signs of trouble or inappropriate behavior. And that would be the responsible thing for a chaperone to do, except this was frickin’ Lee Komui we’re talking about, so in this case “inappropriate behavior” specifically meant “anyone coming within three feet of Lenalee,” so that was about as effective as you’d expect it to be. Already a few unfortunate souls who had accidentally bumped into her had fallen prey to Komui’s wrath and had been mysteriously escorted from the premises. It was really only because of Reever that no blood had been spilt.

 _Yet_ , that was.

From his vantage point at one of the walls, Komui crossed his arms. Lenalee had taken up a position as one of the judges for the Bookman siblings’ dance off, so the younger Lee sibling wasn’t in any immediate danger. Beside her sat Johnny Gill, who wouldn’t so much as think an impure thought about Lenalee, because everyone in the science club knew better than to piss off their advisor. And while Komui would have preferred not to see his precious little sister sitting at the same table as a couple of MPHS students, she at least had Johnny as a reliable shield between their presence and her. Komui would take it.

He would also take an opportunity for Black Order High to crush those Noah in a competition, so things were proceeding pretty well for the moment.

 _But if any of these little brats so much as_ looks _at my Lenalee the wrong way—_

Unseen terror threatened to descend upon the land. And while she was on the other end of the room, Lenalee could still sense the aura forming around her brother, took a moment to look his way and offer a smile and a wave, setting off the latest gushing about his sister. It would pacify him for a good fifteen minutes, if nothing else.

Which was probably a good thing, as things were heating up by the second. The current pair on the dance floor had requested a recent pop hit that pretty much demanded sex appeal—and neither party was backing down. Though she didn’t know the name of the Black Order High side, she vaguely recognized the girl from passing by in the halls, and the girl had a flair and style to her that would have been a grand slam of victory if her Millennium Private High opponent wasn’t _also_ on top of the flair departments.

 _Noah or not, he’s pretty hot._ Not as wonderful as Allen, of course, but still hot. _There’s nothing treasonous about thinking the enemy is attractive. It’d be way more of a crime to not acknowledge it._ Good thing that Komui was incapacitated for a bit, because it was a wonder things were staying high school appropriate for the moment. _No, stay focused. If you’re gonna be a judge, you can’t let things like that win you over!_

Neither of the contestants was making focus easy, however—not that the crowd was complaining. Mixed in with the music were cheers and hoots of encouragement. The Black Order girl was playing along with them, pulling off an air of class and seduction all in one. Mikk seemed to have the same sort of approach going on, but he wasn’t looking towards the crowd. Rather, he was looking at a fixed spot, and Lenalee followed his gaze out of curiosity.

 _OMG, he’s looking at Lavi._ There was another dance movement that was too hot to be legal, and Lenalee felt her eyebrows rise. _OMG, he’s doing_ way _more than looking at Lavi._

As for Lavi himself, the usually indominable rabbit still hadn’t recovered from his initial shock and his thoughts had turned into nothing but a pure stream of _What the hell what the hell what the hell?_ Because he sure as hell recognized the Noah guy on the dance floor in front of him—Lavi didn’t have such regular encounters with handsome people in fancy restaurants, and even if he did, his stellar Bookman memory wouldn’t let him forget. And with Tyki’s golden eyes locked on him, forcefully ejecting the memories wasn’t an option, either.

Lavi Bookman had never believed in karma much (though he found the concept intellectually fascinating), but what was happening in front of him seemed like a prime candidate to prove it. Whether it was good karma or bad karma, he couldn’t really say, because he was too busy _choking_ over the sheer coincidence of the matter.

Ari gave her brother one glance and broke out into a grin, clapping her gloved hands together. “Wow, Nii-chan, I haven’t seen you look like you’re about to make your own brain explode in ages! This is great. Tell me what’s happening so I can make it worse.”

Deciding against noogieing Ari in retaliation (she’d put hard work into styling her hair, and Lavi didn’t want to put up with the increased threat level in his own home), Lavi settled for wagging his finger. “Now, now, why would I go and tell you my problem when you’re so blatantly telling me it’ll be to my disadvantage.”

“’Cause you already know I’m gonna use every little thing I can against you, so I figured I’d cut out the middle man!” The song pounding over the speakers headed towards a climax, and Lavi thanked the universe for cutting him at least some slack. Ari put a finger to her chin and hummed in thought. “Well, I guess the goal is to beat the Noah and then win over Allen. I can pry at your weaknesses some other time, Nii-chan!”

“Much obliged,” Lavi said in a pure deadpan, then looked back to the dance area as cheers erupted at the end of the song. The blonde Noah twin was taking care of introducing the next pair of contestants, and, while one Tyki Mikk was taking his leave from the dance floor, there was a smirk on his face as his eyes but Lavi’s one.

And then the man _winked_ , and Lavi tried not to choke on thin air, because that would just be lame.

He pushed the mic he’d been steadfastly guarding into Ari’s hands. “I’m gonna go get some drinks. Think you can handle not burning down the place while I’m gone, O Little Sister of Mine?”

Ari pouted, cheeks puffed up and all. “I set the kitchen on fire _once_ when I was six—” she started to protest, but Lavi had already beaten a hasty retreat, hopping off the side of the stage and mixing into the crowd. With a sigh, Ari went to trot over to the judge’s table to check on the next round of names.

 _Someone_ was going to be the responsible one, and it looked like Lavi had shoved it onto her shoulders. Potentially boring, but he had also just effectively left her unsupervised.

And that meant there were _options._

* * *

_What the hell what the hell what the hell?_

Though many may not have guessed it from his usual demeanor, Lavi was a pretty smart guy, and his brain was usually running on high speed, following several trains of thought (his record was four at once, but that had been an exceptionally good day, powered by way too much caffeine for mere mortals’ consumption). But despite his frantic attempts to think logically or find some sense of humor in the situation, none of it was working out, and he was stuck with the mental chant that felt like it had been going on for an eternity already.

_What the hell what the hell what the hell?_

He one-quarter jammed, three-quarters elbowed his way across the dance floor, unsure if he was looking for an escape or a certain individual. _Tyki Mikk_ —that was the guy’s name, and he was from Millennium Private, which made an annoying amount of sense, considering where they had met. Both MPHS and Ari’s choice of a date spot were owned by the same company, and both were equally expensive to get into.

_What the hell what the hell what the hell?_

The smart move would be to let it go, not worry about it, pretend like he hadn’t seen anything, though his annoyingly good memory kind of presented that. Though the announcement from one of the Noah twins over the mic indicated that Tyki was the winner of his first dance competition throwdown— _how could he not have, seriously?_ —and the cheers of MPHS students mingled with the Black Order’s booing before the next contestants were introduced.

No sign of Tyki Mikk in the crowd yet. That was a good thing, such an easy out, but Lavi’s frantic thought still chased him around his own mind, and it was bad enough that he’d be a distracted MC if he went back to the stage.

_Okay, Lavi, calm down. Super duper rad ninjas do not panic. Go to the bathroom, splash some water on your face, and get right back on that stage where you belong._

Having a concrete next step to follow could really do wonders, and Lavi managed to work his way out of the cluster on the dance floor, the enthusiasm of the crowd helping him, too. He was pretty damn proud of his ability to work up excitement in a room, so things were going off without a hitch at that point. Most students were enjoying watching the competition, but there were a few other groups dancing on the outskirts, having fun in their own space.

It was much easier to move once Lavi had reached that point, and the sound of thudding music partially died down once he made it to his destination. Following the plan, Lavi started up one of the sinks, pushed his eyepatch out of the way for the moment, then went about soaking his face with water, the cool sensation starting to calm his panic, along with the help from some counted-out breaths.

Eye still closed, Lavi reached out for where he had seen the paper towel dispenser, grabbed one, and made sure all was dry before slipping his eyepatch back into place and putting on the widest, most energetic grin he could muster.

“My, we do just keep meeting like this.”

Too bad for Lavi’s plan (and nerves) that someone else just happened to be there.

Extra too bad that “someone” happened to be the very person Lavi had been trying to recover from seeing.

Tyki hummed a bit, plucking out the cigarette he’d been planning to sneak in while Road was too occupied to harass him about it. Lavi let out a strangled, choking noise, his jaw almost unhinged from how far open it was hanging.

Except keeping Lavi quiet for more than a second wasn’t natural, so of course that stunned silence only lasted for a moment.

“You didn’t tell me you were a freakin’ Noah!”

“To be fair, you didn’t tell me you go to Black Order,” Tyki said, looking completely nonplussed by the outburst. Considering what his family members were like, one shouting teen wasn’t enough to faze him. He did, however, offer a smirk. “Then again, I didn’t learn _nearly_ as much about you as I wanted to that night. Lucky me, it seems like I’ve been given an opportunity to correct that.”

“What in the world about this is lucky?!” Someone started to open the bathroom door, heard Lavi’s rantings inside, and then decided their life would be much better holding off on using the restroom. Lavi tossed his hands into the air and started to pace, trying to ignore the fact that Tyki was once again looking at him like a fox deciding when to pounce upon the unsuspecting rabbit. “I’m just trying to do Brit a solid, then there’s this mess with the loli stalker, _I_ can’t keep my own feelings straight, and now some random hot guy is making passes at me— _I can see you trying to undress me with your eyes, man!_ ”

 _Trust me, Red, I passed that stage a long time ago._ Tyki flicked out his lighter, taking in a drag to prevent him from saying anything that would scare Lavi off. The sweet inhale of nicotine felt like heaven after the past several hours without. “If my advances are unwelcome, I will back off. I may be forward, but I’m not a brute.” For all that Sheril ranted about Tyki’s _frivolities_ (direct quote, plus five points for vocabulary, minus twenty points for being _an unnecessarily nosy fuck_ ), he was at least somewhat classy about his affairs—and forcing himself on someone unwilling wasn’t sexy in the least. “Just say the word, Red, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

 _If I had a ready answer to that, my life wouldn’t be such a wreck right now!_ Lavi thought. Why did the universe have to choose to give him a crisis about his sexuality in the middle of Operation TRIangular— _Wait, that’s it! TRIangular and helping Allen is my top priority right now, no matter what!_ “I don’t have time for this!” he shouted, finally pulling himself back together. “I have a secret mission to lead right now, dammit!”

“Oho?” Tyki raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t planning on causing trouble for this dance, were you?”

“Pssh, naw! I love a good party. I’m just trying to help my friend with his love life.” And potentially become a part of his love life—but that wasn’t important enough to tell a practical stranger, even if he was hot. Glancing back at the mirror, Lavi adjusted his bowtie and checked himself over. “Plus I started this dance competition, so it would be lame to disappear. Gotta get back to where my people need me!”

Satisfied that he looked fly as hell, Lavi set a beeline for the door. “Wait a minute, Red,” Tyki said, causing aforementioned redhead to stop and peek over his shoulder despite his initial instinct. And while Tyki was much more inclined to smirks, he still had a smile in his arsenal, ready and waiting for special occasions. “I like a good bit of entertainment. What do you say I help you out?”

Lavi’s brain went into overdrive, minus the near existential crisis of earlier, and he quickly categorized all the potential pros and cons of the situations, with many of the latter having to do with the fact that it was _too_ convenient, and that there had to be a catch, even if he couldn’t say what it was based on what little information he had at hand—

 _Yeah, I don’t have time to worry about that._ Not caring in the slightest if he was about to make a strategic error, Lavi pressed on, his ninja instincts (brotherly experience edition) telling him that he’d left Ari unattended with a microphone and a crowd for way too long to be safe. “Suit yourself.”

Tyki refrained from sharing his first thought to that invitation—a show of true restraint, mind you—and took one last drag on his cigarette before tossing it away into the nearest toilet. His long gait caught up with Lavi’s in a matter of moments, and he allowed himself a pleased smile. “Don’t mind if I do, Red.”

* * *

Having been roped into becoming a dance chaperone, Lero was on the absolute verge of a panic attack.

While he did work at Millennial as part of the wait staff, his true job was that as working for Millennium Private High School’s Chairman—which happened to include all manner of things, from organizing paperwork to making sure an umbrella was on hand when the weather turned sour to even assisting with school events such as the dance sprawling out before him.

The dance that had devolved into not only the Black Order children acting without any class, but also that involved MPHS’s distinguished student body giving into an unnecessary sense of competition. Even worse, Devitt and Jasdero—two of the Chairman’s favorites—were part of the issue, Tyki had acted in a way that wasn’t worthy of his standing whatsoever, and Mistress Road had vanished from Lero’s careful watch, which could only be a signal of impending trouble.

It didn’t help that the other chaperone responsible for the whole dance couldn’t keep himself focused for more than five seconds.

Why was he always the only responsible one, lero?!

His face starting to turn a shade that suspiciously resembled orange, Lero started to march his way towards the DJ and the stage. If no one else would put an end to the madness, he would, and it didn’t matter what—

An all too familiar hand caught the back of Lero’s suit jacket, and all the color of indignation ran out of his face.

“Now, now, Lero,” Road said in a sing-song voice, hand slipping under her petticoats for some ammunition, “you weren’t about to go ahead and ruin my fun, were you?” She pouted, deciding that she was far more in the mood for one of her reserve lollipops and pulled it out instead. “You know that I get in a bad mood when people interrupt my playtime, right?”

“M-Mistress Road—”

“And you know that the Chairman likes having me in a good mood, _right?_ ” Not caring one bit for appearances, Road ripped off the candy’s wrapper with her teeth, and Lero flinched.

“O-of course not—!”

Road smiled again, though her eyes still had a dangerous glint in them. “Glad to hear it.” Lero felt like he was on the verge of passing out, though the reason was a toss up between relief that Road hadn’t gone on a rampage and impeding panic about what she was going to do when left unattended to. Not caring the slightest bit, Road noticed Jasdero giving her a signal that it was time to make her appearance. “Do be a dear, Lero, and stay out of the way, alright?”

Without waiting for a response, Road flounced towards the center of the dance floor as the previous pair’s song of choice faded away. It was Devitt’s turn with the mic, and his voice echoed across the room. “Listen up; it’s time for the next contestants to take the stage. From Black Order so-and-so, we have Allen Walker.”

In protest to the lukewarm introduction, the Black Order High student body sent up a rousing cheer (including Ari blowing a raspberry at her cohost) as Allen awkwardly stepped up, feeling just as anxious as his sheepish smile suggested. _The bloody things I do for my friends’ sake…_

“And from our own Millennium Private High School…”

The lights went out, leaving the room in darkness.

“Another of our prestigious top Noah…”

A spotlight flicked on, shining down on a single figure.

“…Road Camelot!”

Road smiled.

Allen took a split second to recognize her before blanching.

“ _Shit._ ”


End file.
